Breeders' Cup Classic: Frosted puts in fast work

ARCADIA, Calif. – The horses headed west for the Breeders’ Cup to potentially take on the likes of locally based California Chrome and Arrogate are about to begin their journeys or are here already, with Frosted completing his serious New York-based training on Wednesday, while Gun Runner has arrived for a key workout this weekend.

Both of those runners are under consideration for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 or the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 4, but in the case of Frosted, all signs are pointing toward the richest race of the 13-race Breeders’ Cup extravaganza at Santa Anita.

Frosted already has fees-paid berths in both the Classic (via his win in the Whitney) and the Dirt Mile (per the Met Mile). In theory, he could pre-enter both races on Monday, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has previously said he prefers the Classic.

The Maktoum family, which owns Frosted, already has Tamarkuz in the Dirt Mile, so doubling up in that race while going without an entrant in the Classic – worth six times the money as the Dirt Mile – would be curious. And Joel Rosario, the rider of Frosted, has calls on that horse for the Classic and on Tom’s Ready in the Dirt Mile, assuming Frosted doesn’t go there. Mike Smith has the call on Tamarkuz.

The main order of business Wednesday was to give Frosted his final work at the private Greentree facility in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., before he travels to California on Sunday. Frosted, working alone on the synthetic surface, went six furlongs in 1:11 while working right-handed, which McLaughlin is fond of doing with his runners.

“He was very happy,” said McLaughlin, who said Frosted went the first five furlongs in 58.80 seconds.

Frosted, Tamarkuz, and Sentiero Italia – McLaughlin’s runner in the BC Filly and Mare Turf – are all scheduled to fly to California on Sunday in order to get their final Breeders’ Cup drills in at Santa Anita on Oct. 28. McLaughlin is scheduled to arrive Oct. 27. His brother Neal, his top assistant, will be here in advance.

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Gun Runner arrived here at Santa Anita late Tuesday afternoon, so he was merely walked on Wednesday but was scheduled to go back to the track Thursday and have a workout Sunday or Monday. As with Frosted, he could pre-enter both the Dirt Mile and the Classic on Monday.

The pre-entry stage is the first step of a two-step entry process. Final entries are due Oct. 31, and that is when posts are drawn for all 13 races.

As of Wednesday, there were 11 horses possible for the Classic. In addition to Arrogate (Mike Smith the rider), California Chrome (Victor Espinoza), Frosted (Rosario), and Gun Runner (Florent Geroux), others still under consideration include Effinex, Hoppertunity (John Velazquez), Melatonin (Joe Talamo), Nyquist (Mario Gutierrez), Shaman Ghost (Javier Castellano), War Story, and Win the Space (Gary Stevens).

Smith had been riding Effinex, and no replacement has yet been named for him.

Jimmy Jerkens, who trains Effinex, was scheduled to work Shaman Ghost late Wednesday morning on the Belmont Park training track, but he postponed the work after seeing another horse injured on that surface just before Shaman Ghost was to drill.

At Santa Anita on Tuesday, Arrogate worked seven furlongs in 1:24.40 for trainer Bob Baffert, who has Arrogate on the same schedule he used last year with American Pharoah, heading into the Classic straight from the Travers.

California Chrome, currently the 7-5 favorite on the ante-post Classic line of Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, is scheduled to work on each of the next two Saturdays at Los Alamitos before heading over to Santa Anita.

– additional reporting by David Grening and Mike Welsch