“If at first you don’t succeed
– try, try again.” That’s the attitude trainer Mike Stidham is taking
toward his second straight attempt for a sweep of Arlington’s
Mid-America Triple.
Last summer, Stidham saddled
Estrorace’s Workin for Hops to win the 75th renewal of the Arlington Classic in
May and brought that colt back to Chicago
to capture the 96th running of the American Derby in July.
Unfortunately, Stidham’s colt ran into a gray monster known as Paddy O’Prado in
the Grade I Secretariat in August and that Donegal Racing color bearer denied
Workin for Hops’ bid to become the fourth horse in history to sweep the
Mid-America Triple.
However, on May 28, Stidham
saddled All In Stable’s Willcox Inn to win the 2011 Arlington Classic by a
convincing 2 1/2-length margin, and another march toward a Triple sweep –
accomplished by Powhatan’s Tom Rolfe in 1965, Ogden Phipps’ Buckpasser in 1966
and Robert Schaedle III’s Honor Glide in 1997 – has officially begun.
“Absolutely,” said Stidham
immediately after the Classic, when asked if Willcox Inn would be pointed to
the American Derby as Arlington’s
oldest stakes race to be run July 9. “There’s no reason not to shoot for
that race. This is our home track and we always enjoy staying at home
when we can.”
Reminded of the unconsummated
ceremonies that were planned for Workin for Hops last season had he been able
to complete the Triple sweep, Stidham said, “The only thing we can do about
that now is to try again, and that’s going to be our plan.”