Summer Bird, Tim Ice Coming to Oaklawn for 2010 Live Meet Before Returning to New York

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Trainer Tim Ice said Classic candidate Summer Bird, the winner of the Belmont,  Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes this summer, will depart New York and head for California on Monday.  He is next expected to contest the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, November 7.

Ice also said the colt would return to New York next season after the spring meeting at Oaklawn Park.  “After the meet at Oaklawn Park, the plan is to come to New York,” said Ice, who previously has been based at Louisiana Downs. “I’d like to pick up some new owners. Right now, I’m thinking of bringing 20 to 25 horses and trying to build from there.”

Ice’s runners are unbeaten in four starts in New York this season.  Independence War won a claiming race at Belmont on October 3 to go along with Summer Bird’s victories.

“Overall, New York is a great place to race during the summer and also to train,” said Ice, 34. “Dr.Jayaraman and I were talking yesterday about Belmont Park. The main track has a great surface, and the horses have come off it in great shape.”

Ice's return to Oaklawn will be one of the highlights of the 2010 live season at Oaklawn, which begins on Friday, January 15.  Summer Bird may be pointed for the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday, April 3.