Although disappointed in 2-year-old colt Bodenheimer‘s eighth-place finish in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, trainer Valorie Lund still believes this three-time winner who debuted with a sparkling victory at Canterbury Park has great ability. The race simply did not go his way.
Bodenheimer ‘bobbled at the start’ per the Equibase race chart.
“The jockey told me the ground broke away under him,” Lund said. That poor break cost him “two bad strides” she said. “This was not the kind of race where you can make up ground.”
The Washington-bred son of Atta Boy Roy managed to get within a length of impressive front-running winner Golden Pal but faded soon after. Lund would have loved to see her horse hook up with Golden Pal but that was not meant to be.
The bad break was “just one of the things that went wrong,” according to Lund. Bodenheimer sustained “a couple of scraps on him” but otherwise he “came out fine,” she said.
Next for the colt is a rest. “I’ll turn him out and let him grow up,” Lund said. “We did not have any plans beyond Breeders’ Cup.”
That means 60 to 90 days before he will return to training.
Another well-known son of Atta Boy Roy, Mr. Jagermeister, may return to training this week after receiving a brief respite.
Lund plans to have six stalls at Oaklawn Park when they begin after the first of the year. She will maintain a home base at a training center outside of Lexington, Kentucky and shuttle horses back and forth as needed while also looking at racing possibilities at nearby tracks such as Turfway Park.
