Little Mike to try his luck in Shoemaker Mile at Betfair Hollywood Park
The Dale L. Romans-trained 5-year-old, Little Mike, will look to start his California campaign on a high note, as he sets sights on the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, to be held at Betfair Hollywood Park this weekend.
The mega event has attracted nine high status entries, but Romans is very confident about his charge’s chances in the contest. He claimed that the gelding is in such a great shape that any of his rivals is unlikely to challenge his dominance at Betfair Hollywood
Park.
“I don’t think anyone will get in front of him. If they do, they won’t finish well. He’s fast,” Romans said.
The son of Spanish Steps has won 10 of his 17 starts, earning the prize money of $830,412. His track record under J. Bravo is even more impressive. He has raced in the hands of Bravo on a dozen times, emerging as victor on 10 occasions.
After an excellent victory at the start of last year, the dashing runner lost his rhythm for a while, finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf in last February. A terrible outing did not make any impact on his determination, as he sealed fourth
consecutive triumphs after that.
After winning the Grade 3 Appleton, he did not relax and went on to register another emphatic victory before grabbing the first prize in the Sunshine Millions Turf at the start of this year.
After four successive victories, he failed to maintain the highest standards and as a result, ended up fourth in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf. Little Mike put his campaign back on the winning ways, when clinching the top prize in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve
Turf at Churchill Downs last month.
The talented gelding is running at California for the first time and an entirely different situation might be hard to tackle. Yet, Romans has full trust in his charge’s racing abilities, saying that Little Mike has become a better runner over the time.
“He came to me in good shape. He grew up and became a better racehorse. The time off probably did him some good,” added the handler.
Tags: