By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (May 12, 2016) — Grade I winning California-bred Masochistic recorded his first timed workout of 2016 on Thursday, going three furlongs in :37 1/5.
Los Pollos Hermanos Racing and Jay Em Ess Stables’ Masochistic, last year’s Triple Bend (gr. I) winner, has been off to recover from a fractured hind cannon, which trainer Ron Ellis thinks occurred during his 14th-place run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Keeneland.
In his first work, the 6-year-old Sought After gelding was aided a bit by a slight dose of tranquilizer. Masochistic has a tendency to speed through his works, so Ellis wanted to make sure he didn’t go too fast, too soon.
“If I didn’t have him a little tranquilized, he’d be a little tough, because he still has that determination to get going,” Ellis said. “I just didn’t want him to go to fast too soon and pull a ligament or a muscle. He’ll go out there and think he’s going to do (five furlongs in) :58 and change.”
For his likely return, Ellis said Masochistic will probably wind up in the Bing Crosby (gr. I) at Del Mar, a race he ran second in last year. If everything goes perfectly, however, Ellis said the Thor’s Echo Handicap for California-breds July 4 at Santa Anita could be a good landing spot for the gelding’s 2016 debut. The trainer has also expressed a desire to stretch the sprinter out to a one-turn mile, an option not available in Southern California, so a try in the Kelso Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont Park leading into the Breeders’ Cup is also a potential target.
“I want to go a mile and get him stretched out, because I think he’s a better miler than he is three-quarters,” Ellis said.