Trainer Peter Miller said he didn’t expect Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, and Kevin Tsujihara’s
Comma to the Top to pull out a victory in yesterday’s Grade 3 Tom
Fool Handicap after he lost the lead in the stretch, but wasn’t
surprised by the 5-year-old gelding’s tenacity.
“I thought he was
beaten and that he was going to finish third,” said Miller when reached
by telephone Saturday. “The horse and [jockey Joel Rosario] are both so
strong and so good. I give a lot of credit to
Joel for getting him to come back. It was an amazing race from an
amazing horse.”
The Tom Fool was Comma
to the Top’s second start in the span of a week as he had finished third
in the Grade 2 San Carlos on February 23 at Santa Anita.
“We put ourselves out there and a lot of people were second guessing the decision [to ship Comma to the Top from
California to New York for the Tom Fool], but I live with the horse seven days a week and know the horse,” said Miller.
The trainer added that
Comma to the Top, who departed New York for California early Sunday
morning, likely will make his next start within 4-6 weeks and that
there’s a “very good chance” it will be the Grade
1, $400,000 Carter Handicap on April 6.