Dubai next stop for Salutos Amigos

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - From the frozen tundra of Aqueduct to the scorching desert in Dubai.

Salutos Amigos, who has become the top sprinter on the East Coast, will make his next start in the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan on the undercard of the March 28 Dubai World Cup, trainer David Jacobson confirmed Monday afternoon.

Salutos Amigos won Saturday’s Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct by four lengths, running six furlongs in 1:09.61 and earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 111. It was his fourth consecutive stakes victory and fifth in his last six starts. Jacobson had several option,s including a race on the March 21 New York Claiming Championships card or the Grade 1 Carter Handicap here on April 4.

But after evaluating the competition for the Golden Shaheen, Jacobson and co-owner Mike Moreno decided to go.

Jacobson believes the toughest opponent Salutos Amigos will have in the Golden Shaheen is the Bob Baffert-trained Secret Circle, who won the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Since then, Secret Circle is winless in six starts, though he finished second in the 2014 Sprint, was second in the Cigar Mile and, most recently, was second in the Palos Verdes at Santa Anita.

Jacobson compares Secret Circle to the Grade 1 winner Dads Caps, whom Salutos Amigos has defeated three straight times.

"If I can beat Dads Caps I think I can beat Secret Circle," Jacobson said. "I've got to go. They're going to have to beat him."

Jacobson said that Cornelio Velasquez, who rode Salutos Amigos in the Tom Fool and who is 4 for 4 on the gelding, would ride him in Dubai.

Salutos Amigos had blood emanating from his right hind foot following the Tom Fool, but Jacobson said it's not serious.

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” Jacobson said. “You tub him and treat it with antibiotics and it’s fine.”

Jacobson said Monday morning he was “really, really happy” with how Salutos Amigos came out of the Tom Fool.