Little Mike nearing return to training

Vaccarezza kept Little Mike away from the track following the Flying Pidgeon

until October 6, but the seven-year-old Florida-bred gelding has kept up a daily

regimen in the days since.

"He has been going to the track every day, going twice around," Vaccarezza

said. "The best thing I did for him was give him some time off. He's going to be

eight, but he's a May 24 foal so he's a young eight. Hopefully, we can have some

fun with him in 2015."

On Saturday, Vaccarezza will bring Little Mike to the paddock at Gulfstream

Park around 9 a.m. (EST) before the winner of the 2012 Breeders' Cup Turf goes

to the main track for his regular exercise and returns to the barn the trainer

shares with Hall of Fame conditioner Allen Jerkens.

"He's going to come out of the barn about five minutes to nine," Vaccarezza

said. "We'll walk him on the racetrack to the paddock and he will go four or

five times around so anyone who wants to take pictures can take pictures. Then,

he'll jog and go back to the barn. I'm going to put a saddle towel on, maybe the

Breeders' Cup one that says Little Mike. We'll do him up in beautiful white

bandages. Maybe we'll get somebody to come and it'll be good for the sport."

Vaccarezza said the idea came to showcase Little Mike after getting repeated

inquiries on the horse's Facebook page, which is run by Vaccarezza's son, Nick,

and has more than 4,000 followers.

"When we starting jogging him in October, people were asking when they could

see him," Vaccarezza said. "The horse is so popular in Florida, especially after

Mucho Macho Man retired. Every day, I get 20 or 30 hits on Facebook asking about

Little Mike. They want to know how he's doing, when they can see him, when he is

going to run again."

Vaccarezza said he will limit Little Mike to five or six starts a year, and

the horse could launch his 2015 season in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Turf

Handicap on February 7. Little Mike has run eight times at Gulfstream in his

career, winning the Ft. Lauderdale, Canadian Turf and Appleton in 2011 and

Sunshine Millions Turf in 2012.

Overall, Little Mike has 14 wins and $3,543,012 in purse earnings from 29

starts, including Grade 1 victories in the Breeders' Cup, Joe Hirsch Turf

Classic, Arlington Million and Woodford Reserve Turf Classic.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com