Ron Sanchez will send former hype horse Social Inclusion—coming off a career-worst seventh in the July 27 William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I)—to trainer Chad Brown in hopes of hitting the restart button, the owner announced July 28 via Twitter.
"We (discussed) all the wonderful times we have had with our boy S.I.," Sanchez tweeted from his @StableRontos account of a dinner with the colt's former trainer, Manny Azpurua, in Oceanport, N.J. "He took us everywhere; we went to Aqueduct, we went to (the) Triple Crown, we went to Belmont... and we came here to (the) Jersey shore.
"But we believe it's time for him to fly and try another training pattern, so (with) Manny Azpurua and Ron Sanchez still a team, friends and family... We announce that Social Inclusion is heading Wednesday to Saratoga. New trainer will be Chad Brown. Good luck. I still own 100%."
Social Inclusion, a 3-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile who flashed brilliance earlier this season at Gulfstream Park, has yet to win a stakes race although he has been a subject of interest on the sophomore scene. The speedy bay colt broke his maiden by 7 1/2 lengths at the South Florida oval in February, then sizzled through a track-record 1:40.97 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance there by 10 lengths over grade II winner Honor Code.
HASKIN: All Eyes on Social Inclusion in Wood
After that race, Sanchez rejected multiple high-dollar offers for Social Inclusion, saying he wanted to keep him with 85-year-old trainer Manny Azpurua on the Triple Crown trail. Azpurua is a Venezuelan native like Sanchez.
"Manny is a great trainer, he is 85, I want him to rest and relax... no more traveling everywhere," Sanchez tweeted. "Need him in Florida taking care of my 2-year-olds."
Social Inclusion ran third in the Twinspires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I), then was third in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and third in the Woody Stephens (gr. II) after his connections opted to take that route instead of running in the Belmont (gr. I). In the Haskell, he raced without the anti-bleeding medication Lasix for the first time since his maiden score, and after acting up in the gate and stumbling at the start, he tracked third and made bid on the far turn but tired to finish well off the board.
NOVAK: No Lasix for Social Inclusion in Haskell
Later, interacting with fans on Twitter, Sanchez said he had considered Shug McGaughey and Rudy Rodriguez as potential conditioners for Social Inclusion as well, but a phone call with 35-year-old Brown sealed the deal. Brown, who ranks sixth by earnings among all North American trainers this year, keeps his string at Saratoga Race Course every summer.
Out of the Saint Ballado mare Saint Bernardette, Social Inclusion was bred in Kentucky by Robert Tillyer, Martin Keogh, and Dr. Chet Blackey. He was a $60,000 purchase from the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale when purchased by Rontos Racing from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment. His current record stands at two wins and three thirds from six starts for earnings of $384,400.
