Arrogate poised to leave fans, rivals breathless again in San Diego Handicap
DEL MAR, Calif. – The truly great ones are said to breathe different air, and as far as Mike Smith is concerned, that’s certainly the case with Arrogate.
“His lung capacity is huge,” said Smith, who has ridden Arrogate to four straight victories. “He doesn’t run out of fuel. He just goes faster and faster and faster until he goes by them all.”
Arrogate hasn’t raced since March, when he scored a – wait for it – breathtaking victory in the Dubai World Cup. That race and the Pegasus World Cup in January were his goals for the first half of the year. On Saturday, the second half of Arrogate’s 2017 season commences when he runs in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Diego Handicap, the first of three straight starts he could make here at Del Mar.
Arrogate has the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19 as his main summer objective, and his year-end goal is a second straight victory in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be run at Del Mar for the first time on Nov. 4.
The San Diego, at 1 1/16 miles, is a means to an end for Arrogate. The distance is probably short of optimum for him, but he has won three times at this distance, including an allowance victory here last summer that served as a tune-up for his track-record victory in the Travers. Arrogate was sympathetically weighted at 126 pounds for the San Diego, equaling the most he has carried, and will concede eight to 11 pounds to his five rivals. None of his challengers has ever run anywhere close to as fast as Arrogate, but second place is worth $60,000.
Arrogate has given off every indication that he’s eager for action. He has gone around the track in recent mornings coiled, with his neck bowed, under exercise rider Dana Barnes.
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“Yeah, I’m excited,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “It’s exciting to watch a big horse like that run.”
Smith is the one who has the best seat in the house. He first rode Arrogate in the Travers and has been aboard for every start since. The Dubai World Cup might have been Arrogate’s finest hour because he broke poorly and still ran past a high-quality horse like Gun Runner for a 2 1/4-length victory.
“To be honest, I didn’t think we had a chance after the start,” Smith said here this week. “He wasn’t used to that much kickback, but going around the first turn, it’s not like I could wheel him out yet. Down the backside, I thought, ‘Let’s see how he does,’ and when I pulled him out, he got right back into the race. I put him back in because I didn’t want to make a big middle move, and he turned right back off.
“I didn’t know if he could still win because I could see Gun Runner was getting a great trip. On the turn, he made up ground so quick. When I wheeled him out, I knew I had a chance. But I didn’t think he’d run right by a horse like Gun Runner even with a smooth trip, let alone that trip. To overcome that was pretty incredible. I mean, he still felt like if I needed to get after him, he was going to give me more. Holy mackerel. He’s just different.”
Arrogate drew post 3 for Saturday. Baffert also entered Cat Burglar, who was a distant second most recently in the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes and is the second highweight at 118 pounds.
Accelerate and Donworth were third and fourth in the June 24 Precisionist at Santa Anita. Accelerate will add blinkers for this race, while Donworth will be making his second start following a 14-month layoff.
Doug O’Neill, who trains Donworth, knows what he’s up against.
“Obviously, if Arrogate holds his form, everyone’s running for second,” O’Neill said Thursday. “Our horse needed his last race, got a lot out of it. We knew with Arrogate going in the San Diego, it would be a short field, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try.”
The San Diego is race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, so it is part of the pick six and the late pick four. Del Mar officials as of Thursday morning had not decided if show wagering would be conducted on the San Diego.