Frankel a good spot for Mucho Unusual to regroup following wide Breeders' Cup run

The Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland did not go well for Mucho Unusual, the three-time stakes winner who starts in Sunday’s Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita.

Mucho Unusual was 65-1, raced wide, and faded through the stretch to finish 12th, 10 3/4 lengths behind Audarya. The BC Filly and Mare Turf was a chance worth taking, considering Mucho Unusual earned a fees-paid berth with a win in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf Sept. 26 at Santa Anita.

“We had a really bad trip with the ground loss,” trainer Tim Yakteen said Wednesday. “If you take that into account, she would have been closer. We took a shot and didn’t get the best of trips. She is definitely in a better place in this field.”

The $100,000 Frankel Stakes, run at 1 1/8 miles on turf for fillies and mares, drew a field of 10.

Aside from Mucho Unusual, the field is led by Rideforthecause, who won the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes at Woodbine in September; Miss Teheran, who was fifth in the Forever Together Stakes on Nov. 27 at Aqueduct in her stakes debut for trainer Chad Brown; Zee Drop, second in the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 25 at Santa Anita; and Never Be Enough and Colonial Creed, the first two finishers of the restricted Kathryn Crosby Stakes on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

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Mucho Unusual has won 5 of 17 starts and earned $702,715 for owner and breeder George Krikorian. Since the BC Filly and Mare Turf, Mucho Unusual has had a steady pattern of five workouts at Santa Anita.

Mucho Unusual led throughout the Rodeo Drive. When she won the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Del Mar in July 2019, Mucho Unusual closed from last in a field of 10.

Jockey John Velazquez will ride Mucho Unusual for the first time in the Frankel, named for the late Hall of Fame trainer.

Rideforthecause will start for the first time for trainer Michael McCarthy. Following the Canadian Stakes, Rideforthecause finished fourth as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Oct. 18 at Woodbine in her final start for trainer Gail Cox.

A 4-year-old filly, Rideforthecause was recently purchased privately by Alpha Delta Stable, McCarthy said. Rideforthecause has been most effective as a stalker.

“It seems she’s coming into the race in the right way,” McCarthy said.

Miss Teheran won consecutive starts on the synthetic track in Deauville, France, in 2018 and did not race in 2019. She was second in her debut for Brown in an allowance race at Monmouth Park in September.

Brown considered sending more than one runner from his East Coast base, but has settled on Miss Teheran in an attempt to win a race named after a mentor who was pivotal at the start of his career.

“She has just been plagued with bad luck – both physical setbacks, rainouts, and cancellations, you name it,” Brown said of Miss Teheran. “She could possibly win, but I’d like to go in with a stronger hand.”

– additional reporting by Brad Free