Stidham: Proxy will miss Iowa; Mystic Guide set for next start

Proxy will scratch from Friday’s Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows after coming out of a Sunday work with a lameness in his right hind leg, his trainer said Monday.

“It’s very unfortunate because the Iowa Derby looked like a perfect spot,” Mike Stidham told Horse Racing Nation. “Proxy has always been very sound, has never had an issue. This is just something that came out of a half-mile work at Fair Hill on Sunday and we have to deal with it."

Stidham said the cause of the lameness had not yet been determined.

“We don’t have a clue what the problem is, but it will definitely keep him out of that race,” Stidham said.

Twice a graded-stakes runner-up who was fourth last out in the April 10 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, Proxy is a colt by Tapit who was a two-time winner as a 2-year-old.

Stidham also gave an update on Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Mystic Guide, who will run in Saturday’s Suburban (G2) at Belmont Park. It will be the 4-year-old son of Ghostzapper’s first race since Dubai.

The colt will ship from Fair Hill to Belmont on Friday and will undertake some paddock schooling before Saturday’s race.

“We gave him a little breather when we got back to Keeneland after the World Cup and then once we got him to Fair Hill, we started back in a work pattern,” Stidham said. “He’s doing fantastic.”

The 1 1/4-mile Suburban is set to include a field that includes Happy Saver, who beat Mystic Guide by three-quarters of a length at the same distance in last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont.

The Super Saver colt is trained by Todd Pletcher as is Country Grammer, who comes into the Suburban off a win in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) at Santa Anita. Informative also enters the Suburban after a win; his was in the Salvator Mile (G3) at Monmouth.

“It’s not going to be an easy race,” Stidham said. “From what I’m hearing, Happy Saver, Country Grammer. It’s never easy going into Belmont and running against Todd Pletcher, so I’m not expecting any cakewalk.”

Stidham said the Pacific Classic (G1) on Aug. 21 at Del Mar was a possible next race for Mystic Guide, although he said nothing was set in stone.

“We’re just going to take it one race at a time, I’m certainly not getting ahead of myself,” Stidham said. “Right now we’re just thinking about the Suburban and then we’ll see how we run and how we come out of it.”

Stidham also said he will be keeping his options open for Penn Mile (G3) winner Gershwin, who may be cross-entered in the Kent (G3) on the turf at Delaware Park on Saturday, and the Dwyer (G3), run on dirt at Belmont Monday.

“We’re still toying with the idea of trying grass with him,” Stidham said. “But there’s a rain forecast again in Delaware for most of the week starting on Wednesday or Thursday, so it’s a possibility that that could be another one of those turf racing that we enter, and then they could come off, and we would probably run.”