Breeders' Cup Classic: Mubtaahij looks to state his case in Jockey Club Gold Cup
The $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park is the final Win and You’re In race toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita. Thus, it should help solidify the field and provide immediate clarity on at least one of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s two top prospects.
McLaughlin trains Met Mile winner Frosted, who remains under consideration for both the $6 million Classic and the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 4, and Mubtaahij, who earlier this year finished second to California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup, in which Frosted was fifth. Frosted will not race again until Breeders’ Cup weekend, but Mubtaahij will try to move on to the Classic with a strong performance in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which, like the Classic, is at 1 1/4 miles.
McLaughlin took over from Michael de Kock as the trainer of Mubtaahij after the World Cup, when Mubtaahij was committed to a campaign in the United States. He had traveled here last year with de Kock, finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont, but left with de Kock and made three more starts for him earlier this year in Dubai.
For McLaughlin, Mubtaahij has finished third in the Suburban Handicap and was a narrowly beaten second in the Woodward Stakes. Both starts came with Lasix, which Mubtaahij previously had not used. He got a Beyer Speed Figure of 101 in the Suburban and a 106 in the Woodward, and if he continues to improve, he could land his first victory since the United Arab Emirates Derby, seven races and 18 months ago.
“He’s doing very well,” McLaughlin said this week on a national teleconference. “Hopefully, he’s catching up to the competition.”
McLaughlin noted that this will be Mubtaahij’s third start with Lasix and the third straight time he will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., who also was aboard in last year’s Belmont.
“Hopefully, the race unfolds well and we have the best horse,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin also will send out Watershed, but his form is clearly inferior to that of Mubtaahij, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup will mark only his second start at 1 1/4 miles; he finished sixth in a race in Dubai in his only other attempt.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup also includes Effinex, last year’s runner-up in the BC Classic, and Hoppertunity, who was third in the World Cup, a neck behind Mubtaahij.
Frosted most recently was third in the Woodward, which followed Grade 1 victories in the Met Mile and Whitney. McLaughlin said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, whose Godolphin Racing LLC owns Frosted, would make the final call on which Breeders’ Cup race Frosted enters, but McLaughlin seemed to prefer the Classic.
“I worry about a two-turn mile. The quick run to the first turn can create a traffic jam,” McLaughlin said. “The Classic is a great race with California Chrome and Arrogate, but the race shape might be better for Frosted.
“Obviously, California Chrome has had an unbelievable run,” McLaughlin added. “Hopefully, if we take him on, we can turn the tables, but we know it won’t be easy.”
Frosted worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds on Wednesday at the private Greentree facility near Saratoga.
McLaughlin said he had “penciled in” Oct. 23 as the date his horses would fly from New York to California, which would afford time for a final Breeders’ Cup workout at Santa Anita.
California Chrome remains the overwhelming favorite for the Classic, and his dominating victory in the Awesome Again Stakes last Saturday at Santa Anita caused Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, to drop his ante-post price on California Chrome to 7-5 from last week’s 2-1. Arrogate is the second choice at 4-1. Frosted is 6-1, and Mubtaahij is 20-1.