Mandaloun returns to work tab, targets Saudi Cup
Mandaloun, one of the better 3-year-olds of 2021, had his first published workout following a break from racing when he went an easy three furlongs Sunday at Churchill Downs.
Both Mandaloun and Knicks Go, sure to be named Horse of the Year for 2021, will roll into Fair Grounds sometime next week, when trainer Brad Cox sends a final shipment of horses south from Churchill to New Orleans.
The two horses have lucrative race goals early in 2022. Knicks Go, who dominated the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar affirming his position as the best horse in North America, is expected to have his career finale in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, a race he won in 2021, on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.
By then, if all goes well, Mandaloun will have gotten in a comeback start functioning as a prep race for the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 26 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. Bred and owned by Saudi-based Juddmonte Farms, Mandaloun will make one early 2022 start in the United States before heading overseas for the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile Saudi Cup, a race in which Knicks Go finished fourth earlier this year.
Mandaloun last raced July 17 in the Haskell, where he finished second, beaten a nose by Hot Rod Charlie, who was disqualified to last for fouling Midnight Bourbon in midstretch. Cox said Mandaloun trained for a few weeks following the Haskell but “just wasn’t quite right, so we pulled the plug on him.” Mandaloun jogged and galloped over the training track at Juddmonte’s Kentucky farm before rejoining Cox’s string in early November.
“He looks amazing, that horse,” Cox said.
Knicks Go, meanwhile, did all his prep work at Fair Grounds before shipping to Florida for an easy win in the 2021 Pegasus. He’s on track for a highly anticipated battle in the 2022 renewal with Life Is Good, spectacular winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 6.