Meydan: Keen Ice gets final prep for Dubai World Cup

Frosted took care of business last month when he won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2, his Dubai World Cup prep, and California Chrome did what he was supposed to do last week, winning a handicap over about 1 1/4 miles meant to propel him to a peak performance March 26 in the World Cup. Now, it’s time to see what Keen Ice has to offer, as the third American horse to ship early for the $10 million World Cup starts Saturday at Meydan in the featured Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3.

Keen Ice is one of 12 entrants in the Group 1, $400,000 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3, a dirt race over 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) around two turns. With Frosted passing this race to train straight into the World Cup, the other name horse in the race is Mubtaahij, who disappointed to some extent in his comeback last month after a long layoff but could improve dramatically Saturday.

There are seven races on the card of World Cup preps known as Super Saturday. The races start earlier than the usual Thursday night programs, with first post scheduled for 7 a.m. Eastern and the Al Maktoum Challenge set to go at 9:55 Eastern.

Keen Ice breaks from post 11 with Ryan Moore riding for the first time. The 4-year-old Keen Ice has only two wins to his credit, but the second of them made him famous, an upset over American Pharoah in the Travers Stakes last summer. Keen Ice got a great setup that day, as Frosted pushed American Pharoah throughout the 1 1/4 -mile fixture.

Keen Ice has less speed than either Frosted or California Chrome, and he would be vulnerable to a slow pace or a wide trip Saturday. His sixth-place finish in the Donn Handicap shouldn’t be held too hard against him since Gulfstream Park doesn’t suit his style and the race was meant to send him to Dubai without rust after a winter break. His trainer, Dale Romans, won the 2005 World Cup on dirt with Roses in May but had less success sending Dullahan and Little Mike to Dubai in 2013, when both horses finished unplaced in prep races on the Super Saturday card.

Mubtaahij looked phenomenal in winning the UAE Derby on Meydan dirt last March, earning a trip to the U.S., where he was eighth in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont. Muntaahij got the rest of 2015 off as trainer Mike de Kock set his sights on the 2016 World Cup, but even de Kock, who often gives a horse a comeback run for fitness, probably expected a bit more from Mubtaahij than a one-paced fifth-place finish Feb. 4 in the Firebreak Stakes. Moderate improvement Saturday would be enough to send Mubtaahij on to the World Cup even if he doesn’t win.

De Kock trains another horse of note racing Saturday, Ertijaal, who flopped in a dirt experiment last out but is back on turf in race 7, the Group 1, $300,000 Jebel Hatta, a nine-furlong prep for the Dubai Turf.