Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Frosted remains on the fence

One of the central questions leading into this year’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita is whether Frosted will go in the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 4 or the $6 million Classic on Nov. 5. He has earned berths in both races, but a decision is pending, according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

“We’re going to the Breeders’ Cup – the Classic or the Dirt Mile,” McLaughlin said Monday.

Frosted ran the most scintillating main-track mile of the year in June, putting up a Beyer Speed Figure of 123 in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont. He rolled home by 14 1/4 lengths in the one-turn race and one start later was a two-length winner of the Whitney at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga.

The Dirt Mile will be a two-turn race at Santa Anita.

Frosted, who is based in New York, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup, said McLaughlin, with his race status to be determined by the ownership of Godolphin Racing.

“Sheikh Mohammed, it’s his decision,” McLaughlin said. “I recommended the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

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McLaughlin said he did so in part because he likes the potential race shape and that post position would not be an issue at the 1 1/4-mile distance.

Bradester is another horse straddling between the Dirt Mile and the Classic. He won a berth in the Classic when he captured the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, while the Dirt Mile also is a “possibility,” said trainer Eddie Kenneally. However, the first order of business, he said, is the $175,000 Lukas Classic at 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 1 at Churchill.

Trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher also said this week that it’s too early for their stables to have concrete plans concerning the Dirt Mile.

“I’m really not sure yet,” Pletcher said. “We’ve got a few horses scheduled [for preps] the first week of October that, pending on how they do, would determine their status for possibly that race.”

One of those horses is Anchor Down, the Met Mile runner-up who in May dominated the Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont. Pletcher said the horse is being pointed to the Grade 2, $350,000 Kelso on Oct. 8 at Belmont.

Masochistic, who along with Frosted locked up the two Win and You’re In berths for the Dirt Mile, will skip the race and instead point for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, trainer Ron Ellis said Monday. Masochistic earned the Dirt Mile berth in the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien at Del Mar.

Runhappy, the winner of last year’s BC Sprint, has been announced for the Dirt Mile, while other candidates include Tamarkuz, the Forego runner-up at Saratoga who is targeting the Kelso, and Point Piper, the winner of the Longacres Mile at Emerald.

The Dirt Mile also could be a landing spot for some of the 3-year-olds running this weekend in the Pennsylvania Derby, Los Alamitos Derby, and Oklahoma Derby.