Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Forest Mouse looks to end racing career as millionaire
The first race at Arapahoe Park, on June 26, 2010, was won by Forest Mouse, a first-time starter who went off at 6-1 and has since gone on to become one of New Mexico’s most noted handicap horses. On Sunday, he may call it a career following a start in the $75,000 Curribot at Sunland Park.
Forest Mouse, a 10-yearold who has raced every year since his career debut in Colorado, is $2,693 from becoming a millionaire. If he hits the milestone by finishing between first through fourth Sunday, plans are to retire him to stud, trainer Henry Dominguez said Thursday.
Forest Mouse is the 121-pound second-highweight in the Curribot off a runner-up finish in an allowance Feb. 6 at Sunland. Dominguez, who has trained Forest Mouse since the 2012 running of the Curribot, has always wanted the honest, hard-trying horse to retire a millionaire. Forest Mouse is 26 for 65 overall.
“He’s earned that right,” Dominguez said.
Forest Mouse won three stakes last year at 9, including the Curribot, and in his one stakes appearance this year was third in the $65,000 Winsham Lad Handicap at Sunland. His first stakes win came in 2011 at Turf Paradise in the Tempe on turf for his original trainer, Mark Jensen. There have been 12 more stakes wins to date, including three runnings of the Winsham Lad at Sunland, the Sunland Park Handicap, the Zia Park Distance Championship, and two runnings of the SunRay Park and Casino Handicap.
“He just loves what he does,” Dominguez said. “He’s a hard campaigner. He’s always had to carry top weight, and it didn’t seem to faze him at all. He enjoys going out there and he enjoys the competition. “He’s one of a kind.” Dominguez said Forest Mouse, a son of Teton Forest bred by E.H. Beau Lane III and currently owned by Corey Johnson, was an “excellent miler.” He said the goal is to stand the horse at stud in New Mexico because the bulk of his earnings came in the state. Dominguez said it will be a sad day when the horse leaves Sunland.
“He’s been a big part of our barn – you always look forward to seeing him each morning,” Dominguez said.
The Curribot field of nine includes 122-pound highweight Blue Azul, who is going for his fourth straight win Sunday.
My Boy Jack mulls options
My Boy Jack and Sonneteer, who have shipped in to win separate stakes this meet at Oaklawn, could both return for upcoming races, Southern California-based trainer Keith Desormeaux said Tuesday.
My Boy Jack won the Southwest on Feb. 19 and is now under consideration for either the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 17 at Oaklawn or the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 24 at Fair Grounds. Desormeaux said his initial thought is that the horse just needs one more prep for the Kentucky Derby, but added that with just 12 points and the chance of tough racing luck or a subpar effort in any given start, he has to be open to other plans.
“Probably the most practical angle – if we’ve got a fallback plan – would be to come back for the Rebel, run one-two, get the points and have a nice break to come into the [Kentucky] Derby fresh,” Desormeaux said. “Or, maybe run in a race like the Louisiana Derby that gives you a two-week span to come back in the Arkansas Derby or the Blue Grass [if needed], but then you’re going to be running twice in five weeks. We’ll talk about it with the owners. We’re not going to do anything impractical. We’ll just do what’s best for the horse and, as they say, the rest will take care of itself.”
Sonneteer won the Fifth Season in January at Oaklawn, and Desormeaux said the horse is a candidate for the Grade 2, $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap in April.
Transgress to Sunland Derby
Transgress, a promising 3-year-old who was just edged in an Oaklawn allowance on Monday, is being pointed to the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Thursday. The 1 1/8-mile race that carries Kentucky Derby eligibility points will be run March 25.
Transgress dueled through the stretch in the allowance with New York Central, who won by a neck.
“It was a really good race, two very nice horses,” Lukas said. “It’s hard to separate them when they’re that good. So, I think we’re ready to move on to the next step.”
Luis Saez was aboard Transgress and has the mount in the Sunland Derby, Lukas said.
◗ Trainer Danny Pish on Sunday begins a 15-day suspension for a medication violation that runs through March 11, according to a ruling from the Texas Racing Commission. Pish has divisions of his stable in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The violation, for a trace element of a class 2 painkiller, dates to a Nov. 11 race at Retama Park that resulted in the disqualification of winner Vincitore. Pish also was fined $500.
◗ Peppers Pride delivered a colt by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah about two weeks ago, trainer Joel Marr said Thursday. Marr trained Peppers Pride, who went 19 for 19 while earning more than $1 million. She is now based in Kentucky.