Mucho Unusual has tactical advantage over Luck in Frankel Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – This winter’s Robert J. Frankel Stakes looks a lot like the Robert J. Frankel last winter at Santa Anita, with perhaps one key distinction.

Even though Mucho Unusual is 6 years old, she enters the Grade 3 Frankel on Saturday fresher and livelier than last season when she pressed her way to victory in the mile and one-eighth turf race for fillies and mares.

The difference this year? For the first time in her four-campaign career, Mucho Unusual was given an extended vacation last summer by trainer Tim Yakteen and owner-breeder George Krikorian. The dividends were immediate. She won her allowance comeback, and will enter the Frankel at the top of her game in just her second start back.

Mucho Unusual will need to be in top form, because lightly raced upstart Luck will give her all she can handle. Or maybe it is the other way around. Mucho Unusual is the class of the Frankel field, having won 8 of 22 while nearing the million-dollar earnings mark.

Win or lose, Mucho Unusual is fresh heading into her fifth season. “She hadn’t had a break since she started her career [in summer 2018],” Yakteen said, referring to last season’s March-to-October respite.

“She was well-deserving of a break, we got a nice race into her, and hopefully that sets us up well for the Frankel. We’re looking to have a nice campaign. She’s doing really well, and we’re expecting a big effort from her.”

:: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more.

Mucho Unusual started as second choice behind fourth-place Miss Teheran in last season’s Frankel, and favoritism this year is a toss-up between Mucho Unusual and Luck. Flavien Prat, regular rider for both, sticks with Luck. John Velazquez rode Mucho Unusual to victory in the Frankel last season and regains the mount.

Seven entered the Frankel, race 8. They include front-runner/presser Moraz and late-runner Global Brand, both trained by Michael McCarthy. Richard Baltas trains Luck and longshot Bodhicitta. England’s Rose and Sloan Garden also are entered.

Mucho Unusual has won $933,415 and four graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive in 2020 at Santa Anita. The extent of her 6-year-old campaign will not be known until after she runs in the Frankel.

Luck has raced seven times, winning three. Owned and bred by LNJ Foxwoods, she won 2 of 4 in France prior to winning her U.S. debut in an entry-level allowance last summer at Del Mar. She followed with a pair of runner-up finishes by a head in both the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive and Grade 3 Red Carpet at Del Mar. Luck is a closer, while Mucho Unusual typically presses the pace. The pace scenario gives Mucho Unusual a tactical advantage, because the Frankel field is light on pace.

Moraz is the field’s only other front-runner. The graded stakes-placed filly moves up in class after leading gate to wire in an entry-level allowance mile at Del Mar. She has won 2 of 9 and enters with an upset chance on the front end.