For McCarthy, it's job done with City of Light, Axelrod

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Michael McCarthy has done such a good job with both City of Light and Axelrod that the two best horses in his barn last year are leaving for richer opportunities.

City of Light makes the final start of his career Saturday at Gulfstream in the Pegasus World Cup before heading off to stud at Lane’s End. He has won three Grade 1 races and gave McCarthy his first Breeders’ Cup victory in the Dirt Mile in his most-recent start.

When it was suggested that City of Light has been the most-important horse in McCarthy’s career, he replied, “That might be an understatement.”

Axelrod won a pair of Grade 3 stakes last year – the Indiana Derby and Smarty Jones – before finishing second to McKinzie in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. After that, Phoenix Thoroughbreds purchased a majority interest in Axelrod for an undisclosed price that undoubtedly was many multiples north of the $25,000 for which he was initially acquired at auction.

Phoenix is run by Amer Abdulaziz, who is taking aim at this year’s Dubai Carnival with several runners, Axelrod among them. After his fourth-place finish most recently in the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita, Axelrod was put in quarantine to be sent to Dubai, where he will point to the Dubai World Cup in the care of trainer Sandeep Jadhav, a native of the United Arab Emirates.

Gronkowski, runner-up in last year’s Belmont Stakes and previously trained by Chad Brown, also is ticketed for Jadhav by Phoenix.

Jadhav, in his second full season of training, won the Godolphin Mile last year with Heavy Metal.