Look Forward, a recent arrival at trainer Michael McCarthy’s stable, is a poignant addition.
A 2-year-old filly, Look Forward was the final winner for trainer Ben Cecil, in a maiden race at six furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 8. Cecil died on Nov. 29 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 56.
McCarthy worked for Cecil well before he began training on his own. The two remained friends.
On Saturday at Los Alamitos, Look Forward is scheduled to start in the Grade 2 Starlet Stakes, a $200,000 race at 1 1/16 miles.
Look Forward races for owners and breeders Paul and Zillah Reddam, who have had a small number of horses with McCarthy in recent seasons.
“We’re certainly grateful to Mr. Reddam and everyone involved,” McCarthy said on Wednesday of the filly’s arrival to his stable.
McCarthy, 53, worked for Cecil as an assistant for slightly less than two years before he went to work for trainer Todd Pletcher as an assistant. McCarthy was part of Cecil’s barn during some of the stable’s most successful years. Cecil trained Golden Apples, the champion turf female of 2002.
“It was a good time,” McCarthy reflected on Wednesday. “I was a foreman and then I worked my way up to foreman/assistant.”
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McCarthy began training on his own a decade ago and remained close to Cecil through the years as colleagues based in Southern California. They have teenagers in the same class.
Look Forward will have a tough assignment in the Starlet Stakes. The projected field is led by Vodka With a Twist, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar on Nov. 1, and Practical Dream, who won the Dezi Arnaz Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 16.
Trainer Bob Baffert has two runners in Tenma, who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs on Sept. 7 and was a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 5 in her last start, and Nooni, who was second in the Oak Leaf and sixth in the BC Juvenile Fillies.
Look Forward led throughout her maiden race win, pulling clear in the last furlong to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths.
“From what I can tell she puts a lot into her training,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said a two-turn race may work for Look Forward, who is by Bolt d’Oro.
“After watching her train, I don’t think that will be an issue.”
The Starlet may lead to appearances in the major stakes for 3-year-old fillies in early 2025. McCarthy thinks Look Forward belongs in that group.
“It looks like she could be an exciting prospect going into 2025,” he said.
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