Offers Pouring in For ‘Inclusion’

After posting a record-setting allowance victory over TDN Rising Star Honor Code (A.P. Indy) at Gulfstream Wednesday, Social Inclusion (Pioneerof the Nile)’s owners Rontos Racing Stable, are fielding purchase offers. A debut winner in Hallendale Feb. 22, the bay romped by 10 lengths in his second career outing Wednesday. 

“I’ve had maybe eight or 10 offers,” said Ron Sanchez of Rontos Racing Stable. “We’re going to sit down and analyze everything and do what’s best for the horse. I know this is a business, but we’re going to make a decision that is going to be the best one for the horse. We’re going to take our time and see what happens. If I sell, it has to be for big money. I want to keep a piece of the horse, because this is the horse of a lifetime. It’s a dream for every horseman.” 

Social Inclusion was originally placed under the care of Jeff Bonde at Santa Anita before being moved to conditioner Manny Azpurua. 

“He was training extremely good, but he was still a little immature and we wanted to give him time because he’s a May foal,” Sanchez said. “We wanted to take our time because if you give a horse the time, it will pay off and now it is paying off. We brought him back to Florida because this is the Championship meet and if you think you’ve got a good horse, you’ve got to try with the best ones.” 

Sanchez is considering both the GI Florida Derby here Mar. 29 and Aqueduct’s GI Wood Memorial Apr. 5 for Social Inclusion, who is now setting his sights on a run for the roses. 

“Our original goal was the [GI] Preakness [S.], but now we are thinking about the [GI Kentucky] Derby,” Sanchez said. “The main goal is the Wood Memorial, but we may want to not travel and stay here for the Florida Derby. We’ll know soon about everything, maybe in just a couple days.” 

Both Sanchez and Azpurua are happy with how the bay came out of Wednesday’s race. 

“He’s full of energy and he’s very proud,” Sanchez said. “He’s nice and calm. He came back very happy and didn’t feel tired at all. That’s good, because he ran a hell of a race and set a new track record, and you expect a horse to be a little tired. But, he was nothing like that. He’s special. He can handle whatever comes to him. He’s just a special horse.”