From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 25, 2018) — Tough Sunday is the Little Horse Who Could.
Having overcome health hurdles at birth that would have dashed the careers, yea lives, of Thoroughbreds with lesser pluck, Tough Sunday displayed an indomitable spirit that has him poised and ready for Saturday’s $150,000 Donald Valpredo California Cup Sprint, one of four stakes that day for California-bred or sired horses, with purses of $600,000, that is supported by allowance, maiden and claiming races with money supercharged by the Cal-bred race fund.
A six-year-old horse owned and bred by Nick Alexander, Tough Sunday was born deaf and blind, didn’t know how to nurse, and his mother abandoned him.
But not Alexander, a major owner, breeder and supporter of California racing going on four decades, the founder of Nick Alexander Imports auto dealership in the Wholesale District of Los Angeles, and currently Chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC).
Alexander, 75, has told the tale of Tough Sunday so many times it has become rote. It has been well-documented and goes like this:
“He was very big and got stuck during delivery, and in struggling to get out, his (umbilical) cord was severed and by the time we pulled him out he had been without oxygen for some time.
“We rushed him and his mom (Sunday Dress) to Alamo Pintado Clinic just a few minutes from our ranch in Santa Ynez. The news was bad: He was blind, deaf, had no nursing instinct, and had a heart murmur.
“Dr. Erin Burn and her staff worked around the clock to stabilize him, but he developed pneumonia. He could stand up but couldn’t lie back down. He looked like a pin cushion with so many tubes, IVs, etc.
“Because he didn’t quite know how to nurse, his mom abandoned him. About the fifth day, he wasn’t improving and I was told to make a decision whether or not to keep at it. The next morning, I went to the clinic, and as I walked up to his stall, his eyes followed me.
“That was enough progress for me, but he still was in an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) almost a month before he was strong enough to bring home. We pail-fed him and eventually got his mom to accept him, although he never did learn to nurse.
“A month or so later we turned him out with other foals and mares.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
“I can tell you this; he’s paid his vet bill,” Alexander said. “It cost 40 thousand bucks to get him out of the ICU and he’s now made a quarter of a million dollars.
“He paid me back the money and he certainly gave me four years of enjoyment watching him run.”
The bay son of Grazen trained by Steve Miyadi has won four of 16 starts good for $255,838 in earnings, but he has never won a stake. He was third in the Grade III Midnight Lute on Dec. 31, 2016 and second by a neck in the race Dec. 30 of last year.
Alexander remains enamored with Tough Sunday’s mythic story, as well as the California breeding program, which is in the spotlight on Saturday.
Addressing the agenda for horses bred in the Golden State, Alexander called it, “The greatest program in the world. You get a bonus for breaking your maiden, a check every year for your broodmares, a check every year for your stallion, and a 30 percent increase in the purses when you win an open race or an overnight stake; I don’t know how you can beat it.
“I don’t know why more people aren’t on the program enthusiastically. It makes the difference for most people either losing money or breaking even, or even making a little bit.”
The Sprint field, race four of 10: Edwards Going Left, Tyler Baze, 5-2; B Squared, Mario Gutierrez, 8-1; Masochistic, Drayden Van Dyke, 4-5; Solid Wager, Victor Espinoza, 10-1; Tough Sunday, Joe Talamo, 7-2; and Country Road, Kyle Frey, 30-1.
In addition to the Cal Cup Sprint on Saturday, Santa Anita also will feature the $200,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic presented by City National Bank for older horses at 1 1/8 miles; the $150,000 guaranteed Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint for fillies and mares, four and up at about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside course; and the $100,000 California Cup Turf Sprint Stakes for three-year-olds at about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside course.
The card also includes the following races restricted to Cal-breds: a $70,000 first-condition allowance for four-year-olds and up at about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course; a $65,000 maiden special weight race for three-year-olds at a mile on turf; a $65,000 maiden special weight race for three-year-old fillies at 5 ½ furlongs; a $35,000 maiden claimer ($50,000 claiming price) for three-year-olds at 6 ½ furlongs; and a $30,000 ($16,000 claiming price) for four-year-olds and up.
The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA) will award $200 cash to the groom who prepares the best turned out horse in each of the four stakes races Saturday.
First post time Saturday is 11:45 a.m. Admission gates open at 10 a.m.