FRANKLIN, TN – JULY 12, 2011 – On Sunday, July 10, Michael Tokaruk of Memphis, TN captured his second major win in less than two months aboard Roger Rabbit, the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Castle Point Farm LLC.
The team beat the heat and the competition to easily win the Mid-South Classic $25,000 Grand Prix, which capped off the week at Brownland Farm in Franklin, TN.
Tokaruk, 30, who recently returned to Memphis to act as rider and trainer at Dave Pellegrini’s Spring Mill Farm, piloted the up-and-coming-gray gelding through two clean rounds to earn the top spot.
In the first round, 26 teams navigated the Tim Hott-designed course, but only six went clean. In the jump-off, only Tokaruk and Roger turned in a fault-less performance for the blue-ribbon win. “I thought the course rode well,” said Tokaruk following the win. “Big enough without over-facing anyone, and technical enough that you had to do some riding out there.
“We were the only double clean and our time was three seconds faster that the 2nd place finisher who had four faults, “ Tokaruk continued. “We could have had a rail down and still won by a good margin. I made a nice inside turn that saved us some time. Going early in the jump-off, I knew I needed to be clean, but I also wanted to be quick enough to put pressure on the rest of the field.”
In June, Roger Rabbit, again with Tokaruk in the irons, had his first career Grand Prix win in the $25,000 Grand Prix of at Germantown during the Germantown Charity Horse Show. Tokaruk also won the $15,000 mini prix at the Delta Blues Classic in Tunica, MS on Peggy Jones’s Gama Righter Z, in what has been a great string of shows for the rider.
“Roger has been doing just great and we’ve had a great summer,” said Tokaruk. “He is so much fun to ride right now. It’s been a process, bringing him along the way I would like. But it’s paid off. He’s stepped up and jumped in some bigger classes, like placing in the $100,000 Grand Prix of Devon in May. The owners [Castle Point Farm, LLC] have been incredibly patient and supportive. I’ve been able to take my time with him without any pressure. He’s too nice a horse to do it any other way, and they believe in that.”
Tokaruk adds that the short-term goal for the gelding is to compete in the Grand Prixs at the Kentucky Summer Shows at the Kentucky Horse Park later this month and hopefully at the World Cup qualifier during Kentucky Nationals in September.
“I am really enjoying being back in Tennessee,” said Tokaruk, who left Spring Mill in 2007 to successfully run his own training business in Aiken, S.C. Most recently, he worked as a rider/trainer for Heritage Farms before returning to Spring Mill in April.
“Dave [Pellegrini] made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, so I came back to Memphis, explains Tokaruk. “Spring Mill is a beautiful facility. The team there and my sponsors are all so supportive, and I’m very fortunate to have that right now. It’s great to be back.”
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