Macho Uno finished fourth in the 2001 Classic at odds of 19-1. The previous year, he captured the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a nose to nail down the Eclipse Award. This year, he won the Massachusetts Handicap before finishing third in the Suburban, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, and fourth in the Whitney, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.
Macho Uno, who has not run, nor worked, since his fourth-place finish in the Whitney Handicap, is currently at owner Frank Stronach's farm in Canada, where he will begin preparing for the Sept. 29 Washington Park Handicap at Arlington.The son of Holy Bull is just about ready to start breezing again, according to manager Danny Vella, who runs Stronach's Adena Springs Farm in Ocala. "We felt he was not at his best in his last two races and decided to send him to our Toronto farm for a freshening," Vella said. "He's been galloping steadily, and Joe (trainer Joe Orseno) and his assistant have been going up there regularly to keep an eye on him. He'll head for Chicago next week to run in the Washington Park Handicap. We want to get him there early to let him acclimatize."We still think he can go down as a great horse if he can win the Classic to go along with the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. We want to show that winning both races can be done. He's not a big, robust horse, so we said, 'Let's do the right thing for him.' We have a great training center in Toronto, and he's been doing great up there. Joe has already mapped out his work schedule. We want to send him straight to Arlington and have him be the first one on the grounds. We want to win the big one."