Channel Maker begins international adventure in Middle Distance Turf Cup

Way back in 2016, when he was a 2-year-old, Channel Maker finished third in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes at Woodbine and made it to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, where he was seventh. The following spring, there was a barn change, with Channel Maker coming under the care of trainer Bill Mott, who took him to Keeneland in April expecting to win an allowance race on a considerable class drop. Nothing doing. Channel Maker lost his first four starts for Mott.

“I wondered if we were going to be able to win a one-other-than with him,” Mott said.

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Channel Maker, in fact, never did win an allowance race for Mott. His first score for the barn came in the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, a restricted race at Woodbine. Channel Maker’s next 21 races came at the Grade 1 or Grade 2 level as he emerged, slowly, surely, and, at this point, enduringly, as one of America’s best grass horses over 11 and 12 furlongs. In fact, after ending his graded-stakes starting streak last June by finishing eighth in the Tiller Stakes at Belmont, Channel Maker put together the best three-race string of his career. Over the kind of soft course he relishes, he won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga by almost six lengths, and came back with an open-lengths firm-turf victory in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. Channel Maker’s first two tries in the Breeders’ Cup Turf produced 11th- and 12-place finishes, but last fall at Keeneland, at the tail end of his 6-year-old campaign, he set the pace and finished a strong third.

“Horses surprise you all the time.” Mott said.

Channel Maker came out of the BC Turf in good shape, and after a respite was ready to go again. The gelding, Mott said, has never enjoyed racing on the turf at Gulfstream Park, Mott’s de facto home track during the winter while he stables at Payson Park, so a plan was hatched to send Channel Maker overseas. The ultimate goal is the $5 million Sheema Classic over 12 furlongs on March 27 in Dubai, but for starters, Channel Maker runs Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia in the 1 5/16-mile, $1 million Middle Distance Turf Cup.

Mott, reached by phone Wednesday, hadn’t yet seen past performances for the Middle Distance Turf Cup and had one pressing question: “Does it look like there’s much speed in there?”

Channel Maker turned his career around when his connections decided to let him race as a front-runner, and he does all his best work galloping “on the engine,” as Mott put it. Channel Maker, who will have Joel Rosario in the saddle, should be prominent from the start, though with a race worth five times as much upcoming in five weeks, it’d be folly to expect a peak performance here.

“He keeps a good, shiny coat on him and looked good, dappled out all over, when he left,” Mott said. “If the race scenario works out good for him, he’ll run well.”

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Channel Maker as of Thursday was third or fourth choice in English fixed-odds betting markets, which had Tilsit and True Self as the shortest prices. Tilsit is a lightly raced Juddmonte Farms homebred 4-year-old who tries a distance longer than one mile for the first time. True Self, trained by Willie Mullins, was seventh trying 3,000 meters a year ago in Riyadh and most recently won a Group 3 handicap in Australia.

The Middle Distance Turf Cup is the first race on a card that includes seven Thoroughbred stakes and one for Arabians. Post time is 8 a.m. Eastern.

Saudi Derby

Cowan was no match for Caddo River, a leading Kentucky Derby hope, when they met in the Smarty Jones Stakes last month at Oaklawn Park, but he should match up well with the opposition Saturday in the Saudi Derby, a race worth $1.5 million.

Cowan is one of 13 entered in the Saudi Derby, a one-turn dirt mile that should suit this Steve Asmussen-trained colt. Cowan is a bi-surface threat, having finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November and second in the Springboard Mile on dirt at Remington before running into Caddo River. His two most-recent dirt races came around two turns and the one-turn configuration of Saturday’s race might better fit his capabilities.

Cowan as of Thursday was the second or third choice in English fixed-odds betting markets, which have the filly Soft Whisper listed as favorite. Soft Whisper, based in Dubai with trainer Saeed bin Suroor, had solid turf form last year in England and excelled in a pair of dirt races this winter in Dubai. Last out, in the one-turn-mile UAE 1,000 Guineas, she won by seven lengths over Mnasek, who returned Thursday to easily win the UAE Oaks.

◗ Space Blues is a very formidable favorite in the $1 million Turf Sprint, contested at about 6 1/2 furlongs. Space Blues, who had been considered for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Mile, last saw action in August when he impressively won the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over roughly the same trip as Saturday’s.

◗ Former American runners Switzerland and New York Central are among the contenders for the $1 million Dirt Sprint. Oxted, an English horse who never has tried dirt, and Japan shipper Matera Sky are the early favorites.

◗ American shipper Mirinaque is a longshot in the 3,000-meter Red Sea Turf Handicap, which drew a competitive field of 13.