Cajun Beat Returns in Churchill Gallop

(from Churchill Downs notes)
Trainer Steve Margolis had intended to give Cajun Beat, his dazzling winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), a few more days off to recover from his Santa Anita masterpiece.

But the 3-year-old Grand Slam gelding had other ideas.

Cajun Beat was such a handful in his stall that Margolis was forced to cancel the rest of his star's vacation and he took the horse back to the track on Sunday. He galloped one mile over the "fast" surface under exercise rider Loren Diego in his first training activity since he ran the third fastest Sprint in Breeders' Cup history.

"We had to get him out because he was going crazy," said Margolis. "I was just going to walk him under the shedrow today, but when we brought him out of the stall he started doing cartwheels. He chased me out of the stall yesterday."

Looking on as Cajun Beat returned to the track was John Iracane, who owns him with his father, Joseph, and Satish Sanan.

"We're still on cloud nine," Iracane said. "It was one of those dreams come true. When nice people like Steve who work hard every day are rewarded like that, it's something special."

Iracane, whose family hails from Owensboro, Ky., said the Sprint victory by Cajun Beat prompted a celebration among friends and family.

"We had a big party the night we got back," said Iracane. "My friends surprised me. We had about 200 people over. It was a lot of fun."

Margolis is pointing Cajun Beat toward the $250,000 Malibu (gr. I) at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, a seven-furlong race that kicks off the track's Strub Series.