BDR Trying To Find The Right Button For Sea Button

She won three of her first four races, including her first outing at Hawthorne Race Course by nine lengths. Three races later she cruised home to capture the Pollyanna Pixie Stakes at Fairmount Park. The future looked bright for Sea Button, the star of Button Down Racing’s thoroughbred roster.

Since then however, the now five-year-old mare has only one win in 11 starts, stretching back to that July 2007 stakes triumph. Her lone trip to the winners circle since then came on Sept. 13 of last year, when she led wire-to-wire to capture an open $25,000 claimer at Turfway Park.

“It’s been particularly frustrating,” lamented Michael Hardesty, president and racing manager of Button Down. “She looks great, trains like a bear and is always in the feed bag. We’ve had her vetted and can’t find any malady.”

So trainer Bill Connelly decided it was time to start tinkering. The Turfway-based trainer added blinkers for Sea Button’s last start, but to no avail as she chased the speed in a six-furlong race before fading to fifth. Now he has decided to see how she fares in a route race, entering her in a mile contest at Turfway on Monday, Feb. 16.

“We’ve never sent her long,” said Hardesty. “She has a lot of early speed and has needed to be on or near the lead. Bill is thinking maybe she’ll be able to finish well if the first quarter is run in twenty-four and change instead of twenty-one and something like we ran into the last time. We really don’t know what to expect; we’re just trying to shake things up.”

Jockey Thomas Pompell will bring Sea Button out of gate five in the six-horse field. The race is the third on Turfway’s card and post time is scheduled for 2:04 pm.

Related posts:

1. Button Dancer Dances For Button Down
2. Button Down Racing’s Sun Button Third at Turfway
3. Sea Button Wins for Button Down Racing
4. Button Down Racing’s Sun Button Gets It Done
5. Button Down Hopes for Big Holiday Weekend At Turfway