Dubai World Cup an option for Arrogate
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
ARCADIA, Calif. – Arrogate went back to the track to train Thursday at Santa Anita for the first time since his victory in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream last Saturday, and he has come out of the race so well that trainer Bob Baffert now describes the Dubai World Cup on March 25 as an “option.”
Arrogate jogged once around Santa Anita’s main track the wrong way under exercise rider Dana Barnes. Baffert said Arrogate came out of the Pegasus “fresh.”
“It wasn’t hard on him,” he said.
As for Dubai, Baffert said, “We’re in a holding [pattern]. I’ll wait a couple of weeks and sit down.”
Baffert said he has been impressed with the way Arrogate has reacted to different pace scenarios in his three stakes wins, the Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Pegasus.
“He’s not one-dimensional, and he gets stronger as the race goes on,” he said.
The Dubai World Cup is at 1 1/4 miles, the same distance as the Travers and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Pegasus was at 1 1/8 miles.
Gormley works easy half
Gormley, the winner of last month’s Sham Stakes, was purposely kept out of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Saturday, but he remained on schedule for next month’s San Felipe Stakes with an easy half-mile drill in 49.60 seconds Thursday under jockey Victor Espinoza.
“Just an easy half, something to do before the rain,” trainer John Shirreffs said, referring to the rain that was forecast to hit the area Friday.
In addition to the Grade 3 Sham this year, Gormley last year won the Grade 1 FrontRunner. The Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe on March 11 is at 1 1/16 miles, the same distance as the FrontRunner. The San Felipe is the final local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
– additional reporting by Steve Andersen
