Toccet Thriving at Santa Anita, Scanlan Says

(from Oak Tree track notes)
Anywhere trainer John Scanlan hangs his tack has been home for the past 18 months. That's when he began training Toccet, a much-traveled 3-year-old son of Awesome Again who is scheduled to make his debut at Santa Anita in the $500,000 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) at 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 5.

Toccet, who was supplemented to the Goodwood for $10,000, has settled in nicely at Santa Anita. The bay colt owned by Daniel Borislow galloped 1 5/8 miles Wednesday morning.

"He loves the race track," Scanlan said. "He likes it out here and he's doing really well. He's been around, but he enjoys it. He likes to fly.

"He'll breeze again on Sunday with Julie Krone, so she can get a feel of him. Then he'll just take it easy until the Goodwood. If everything goes well there, he'll be in the Breeders' Cup Classic. That will be the toughest Classic I've seen in a long time, even without Candy Ride."

Toccet last raced at Philadelphia Park on Sept. 1, when he was unplaced as the betting favorite on a sloppy track in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. III). In 10 starts, Toccet has earned more than $770,000, winning seven times at tracks such as Hollywood Park, Aqueduct, Laurel, Belmont Park, Philadelphia Park and Pimlico. His poorest performance was a ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), when he broke from the extreme outside post in a 13-horse field.