Frosted's next start still up in air

ELMONT, N.Y. – Frosted, coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Woodward on Sept. 3, is scheduled to return to the work tab this week at Saratoga, but what race he is working toward is still to be determined.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin met with representatives from Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Stable during the Keeneland sale last week and discussed the options for Frosted, which include the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and the $1 million Dirt Mile.

McLaughlin said that Godolphin racing manager John Ferguson would soon meet with Sheikh Mohammed to discuss the options. By virtue of his victories in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 1 Whitney, Frosted has earned fees-paid berths in both the Dirt Mile and Classic.

McLaughlin said his concerns about the Dirt Mile are the likelihood of a large field and a short run into the first turn at Santa Anita.

Despite Frosted’s 0-for-4 record at 1 1/4 miles – the distance of the Classic – McLaughlin noted that the horse ran well at that distance in the 2015 Kentucky Derby and Travers.

“He had a couple of good runs at a mile and a quarter and was second in the Belmont,” McLaughlin said. “He’s done it all; he’s a very versatile horse. I feel like the mile and a quarter at Santa Anita, there’s not a bad post position for anybody because you’re starting at the top of the stretch, and the race shape I feel like will be better for us.”

McLaughlin does plan to run both Mubtaahij, second in the Woodward, and Watershed, third in the Philip H. Iselin Stakes, in the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 8.