BY BROCK SHERIDAN

Reliable veteran Mr. Who, a top two finisher in six of his last nine starts, moves to the turf for the first time since August of 2024 and into stakes company for the first time since April of that year in the $50,000 Cotton Fitzimmons Handicap at Turf Paradise Saturday. The 9-year-old Florida-bred gelding trained by Jose Silva Jr. has post five in the field of nine 3-year-olds and older scheduled for a mile on the grass.

Having won half of his last eight starts, all against optional claimers going back to February of 2025, Mr. Who continues adding to his win column—around one turn or two—even now at the advanced age of nine. He comes out of a wire-to-wire, three-quarters of a length score in an upper tier $25,000 optional claiming going a mile at Turf Paradise on March 9 and has won two of his last three. He took an upper level, $50,000 optional claiming going six-and-a-half furlongs at Turf Paradise three starts back on December 27.

However, this will be only his third start in stakes company in 66 previous races, the last of which was a fifth-place performance in the $60,000 Wildcat Stakes going a mile-and-three-eighths on the grass at Turf Paradise in April of 2024. One has to go back to October of 2019 to see his other race in added-month company when sixth in the $75,000 Juvenile Turf going a mile at Gulfstream Park West.

Mr. Who has been productive throughout most of his career having earned $296,150 from 15 wins with 11 seconds and nine thirds. He has raced predominantly from the Silva barn since June of 2023 and has racked up eight of his career victories during that span.

Mr. Who is by Kantharos out of Even Road, by Stephen Got Even and was bred in Florida by Sam E. Steven and Sammy L. Stevens.

He will have Adrian Castellanos riding for the first time and is 6-1 on the morning line.

Also lining up with Mr. Who is the Cotton Fitzsimmons starting gate are My Cairo Kid with jockey Glenn Corbett, Eye In Ry with Karlo Lopez riding, Frank Alvarado rides Charge for Gold, Mongolian Memory will have Orlando Mojica in the saddle, Bodi Zafa has Carlos Montalvo named to ride, Guillermo Rodriguez takes the reins on Maltese Falcon (Ire), Saline River will have Geovanni Franco up and Manuel Americano has the assignment on Kennebec.

Return to the March 19 issue of Wire to Wire