Mr Freeze warms up with neck victory in Fayette Stakes

Mr Freeze warmed to the challenge in the Grade 2, $200,000 Fayette Stakes, unleashing a first run on the far turn and then holding off Aurelius Maximus for a neck victory in the co-featured event Saturday at Keeneland.

The 1 1/8-mile Fayette is typically run toward the end of Keeneland's fall meeting, but with the track preparing to host the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6-7, it was moved up to provide an ideally timed local prep for older dirt routers into either the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile or the Classic at 1 1/4 miles.

Regarding a run back in the Breeders' Cup for Mr Freeze ($5.20), trainer Dale Romans said, "we'll have to talk about it." The 5-year-old is a multiple graded stakes winner at both a mile and 1 1/8 miles; he has never been tried at 10 furlongs.

"We talked about the Dirt Mile before, but we’ll have to talk about everything," Romans said. "Everything’s on the table.”

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Mr Freeze made a fine start to his 2020 campaign in Florida, finishing second in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational before winning the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile by three lengths. His schedule was then upended by the coronavirus crisis, as he was ready to travel to Dubai for the Group 2 Godolphin Mile before the rich Dubai World Cup card was canceled. Mr Freeze found a spot to run back more than two months later in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, finishing third. But in his two most recent outings he was sixth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on July 4, then sixth in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs.

Mr Freeze had Javier Castellano in the irons for the Fayette as he broke from post 6 in a field of 9 after the scratch of Tax. Mo Mosa, from post 8, and Aurelius Maximus, drawn outside, both hustled to make the lead into the first turn; Castellano was able to ease Mr Freeze slightly back and work out a stalking trip in the clear on the outside of those two, rather than getting penned inside by the speed. Mr Freeze sat in third as Mo Mosa ran the opening half-mile in a tepid 49.06 seconds, with Aurelius Maximus on his hip.

Mr Freeze kicked into gear with only a mild cue leaving the backstretch and made a sweeping move to take command midway on the far turn as Mo Mosa faded, with Aurelius Maximus also appearing to be in retreat as he backed up to fourth. Mr Freeze kicked clear to open up 1 1/2 lengths in upper stretch as he sailed toward the wire. But Aurelius Maximus, who appeared to have been finished with his run, re-rallied on the outside, coming to the leader in the final sixteenth. Mr Freeze gamly dug in to hold him off. He stopped the clock in 1:50.71 for his neck victory.

“Today he ran like his old self," Romans said. "That was a rough trip for him. I wasn’t expecting him to be four wide on both turns and stalking horses, but he showed what a good horse he really is.”

Aurelius Maximus was second by three-quarters of a length over a rallying Title Ready. It was another neck to Coastal Defense, also trained by Romans, in fourth, followed by Captivating Moon, Rated R Superstar, Crafty Daddy, Mirinaque, and Mo Mosa.