Bobby Blue Eyes became Kenwood Racing’s first two year old winner of 2016 (we had several others knocking on the door, but Bobby got there first!), as he broke his maiden in impressive style at Gulfstream Park on September 29th. Sent off the 5 to 2 second choice, he went right to the front and never looked back, repulsing several bids from the overwhelming 3 to 5 favorite, to win going away by 5 1/2 widening lengths, with the third horse 18 lengths behind. This was trainer Steve DiMauro’s final starter for us, as he retires from the training ranks to take a management position at Gulfstream, a fitting way to celebrate over 15 years training horses for Kenwood as part of a fine training career that saw him win over 1000 races, nearly $26,000,000 in purses and dozens of major stakes. As for Bobby Blue Eyes, congratulations go out to all the members of group #28, especially co-owner Ellen Gaynor (who named him to honor her late husband and our dear friend Bob Gaynor), and co-owners TK & Michele Kuegler and Eric Riedi, who celebrated their first wins as an owner (after several close, in-the-money finishes). Eric and co-owners Rafael Lopez, CynSeo and her daughter Nica all celebrated in the winner’s circle together, and a happy and attractive group it was!

A number of the same co-owners were on hand to celebrate yet again on December 22nd as Bobby reached the winner's circle yet again at Gulfstream, this time via disqualification. He ran a super race, just missing the win by a short length when tiring late after leading the entire way until the final 50 yards (clearly a nearly 2 month layoff when races for him failed to go hurt a bit fitness wise) to finish a game 2nd but was placed 1^st when the favorite was disqualified for impeding the 3^rd finisher in the stretch. Bobby ran absolutely super; he deserved a break and he (and we) got it on this happy day

It’s well worth noting that Bobby Blue Eyes was by far the LEAST promising in the first month of training of our 9 two year old purchases. Trainer Steve DiMauro reported he was “crabby and uncomfortable and not moving well” and was concerned he might not make it at all (despite no obvious physical problem we could find). This is yet another example of how much horses change and develop, particularly at age two. Bobby was a good closing 3^rd in his debut, then well back in 4^th on a sloppy, sealed track he hated in his first two starts. Stretched out to the right distance for his pedigree he has lived up to his potential and we look foward to an exciting winter with him at Gulfstream Park.