Mubtaahij targeting Belmont Stakes

Mubtaahij, the eighth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will ship to New York within the next couple weeks to be pointed to a start in the Belmont Stakes.

The eight-length winner of the United Arab Emirates Derby, Mubtaahij came out of his race Saturday in good condition, according to Trevor Brown, assistant to trainer Mike de Kock, and will try again in the third leg of the Triple Crown after failing to reproduce the form that won the United Arab Emirates Derby by eight lengths.

“It would have been nice to hit the board in the first four, but the good thing is he’s come out of the race well,” said Brown. “I don’t think he ran as well as he had in Dubai. Whether it was the travel, the loss of work for four days, the change in feed, or it just could have been all of that combined.”

Mubtaahij broke decently in the Derby but found himself behind a wall of horses eating dirt while staying on the rail nearly the entire trip. He never really accelerated but stayed on well enough to beat more than half the field.

Mubtaahij shipped from Dubai to North America on April 16. The trip took two days, and Mubtaahij was restricted to a quarantine facility at Arlington for two more days before he was able to resume regular training. International regulations also prohibited de Kock from shipping the colt’s regular feed with him, and the hope is extra time on the ground here might help Mubtaahij fully adapt and move him forward in five weeks.

“He’ll stay at Churchill a minimum of one week, and as soon as things are sorted out, we’ll ship over to Belmont,” Brown said.

Umgiyo, who traveled with Mubtaahij and finished last in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Saturday, will accompany Mubtaahij to New York. There’s a chance that Umgiyo will stay in the U.S. this summer with a North American-based trainer, but long term plans for the horse have not been finalized, according to Brown.