Mubtaahij a bit under radar for Jockey Club Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – With so much emphasis placed on Frosted’s third-place finish in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes, somewhat lost in the mix was the strong effort put in by stablemate Mubtaahij, who finished second, a head behind Shaman Ghost and a head in front of Frosted.

While trainer Kiaran McLaughlin awaits word from Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum on which race is next for Frosted, he knows that Mubtaahij is headed to the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 8.

On Friday, Mubtaahij breezed a half-mile in 47.09 seconds over the Belmont main track in preparation for the Gold Cup, where he will again meet Shaman Ghost, who breezed seven furlongs in 1:29.15 over the Belmont training track Friday.

“He ran real big,” McLaughlin said. “We were happy – really happy – with his race. On [some] speed figures, it was the best race of his life. We’re happy he’s come out of it in good shape, and we’re pointing for the Jockey Club Gold Cup.”

Mubtaahij, an Irish-bred son of Dubawi, remains winless since the United Arab Emirates Derby at Meydan in March 2015. He did finish fourth behind American Pharoah in the 2015 Belmont Stakes and was second to California Chrome in this year’s Dubai World Cup, a race in which Frosted finished fifth.

Speaking of Frosted, he worked four furlongs in 49.20 seconds on Wednesday at the Greentree training facility near Saratoga. It was his first work since the Woodward.

McLaughlin said there has not been a decision on whether Frosted will run in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 4 or the $6 million Classic on Nov. 5. McLaughlin does think a decision will be made before pre-entries are due Oct. 24.

“I think two weeks out, we’ll know,” McLaughlin said. “He probably won’t be [pre-entered] in both.”

McLaughlin will also run Watershed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. In his most recent race, he finished third in the Grade 3 Iselin on Aug. 27 at Monmouth Park.

Shaman Ghost worked Friday, two days after his Jimmy Jerkens-trained stablemate Effinex worked seven furlongs in 1:28.05 over the training track. Effinex also is pointing to the Gold Cup.

Others pointing to the Gold Cup include Samraat and possibly Comfort.