New York winter no match for El Kabeir

ELMONT, N.Y. – Snow was falling lightly at Belmont Park last Friday morning, but it was much better weather for training horses than what lay ahead. On Saturday, temperatures took a nosedive, and winds escalated to the point where racing eight miles away at Aqueduct was canceled for the eighth time in 24 days.

By Monday morning, more snow had arrived, this time mixed with sleet and freezing rain, creating another mess that lasted all day long.

The harsh weather – and news of the 14 equine fatalities at Aqueduct since the inner track opened Dec. 3 – wouldn’t seem to make New York the ideal place for a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender to reside. But the multiple stakes winner El Kabeir is not only living here, he appears to be thriving as he braves the elements in an attempt to make it to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

On Saturday, when it could be a balmy 37 degrees, El Kabeir will seek to add the Grade 3 Withers to a résumé that includes a rather convincing victory in last month’s Grade 3 Jerome.

Ahmed Zayat, the owner of El Kabeir, explained why he is trying to nurture a Kentucky Derby contender through the ice and snow of a New York winter.

“Do I have any regrets about the colt being in New York? Absolutely not,” Zayat said by phone. “I’ve seen him work in the snow. We live here and, sentimentally, we won the Wood Memorial [in 2010] with Eskendereya and would love to win it again. More importantly, we are very fortunate to have more than one nice [3-year-old] colt, and I want to separate them.”

Zayat also owns American Pharoah, the 2014 juvenile champion who returned to the work tab Monday for the first time since late October, when he was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile due to injury.

Zayat said he thinks American Pharoah hurt his suspensory, and that he believes the injury could not be detected via X-rays or ultrasound. Advised to give the colt 30 days off, Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert gave American Pharoah close to 60 days before the colt resumed training at Santa Anita. Zayat said American Pharoah “is penciled in” for the $750,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 14.

At Oaklawn, Zayat has Mr. Z with D. Wayne Lukas. Mr. Z, who raced erratically when finishing third in the Smarty Jones there last month, is being pointed to the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 16.

With one horse in California and another at Oaklawn, it would seem logical to have one in south Florida. But John Terranova, the trainer of El Kabeir, opted to keep a small string at Tampa Bay Downs this winter rather than Gulfstream Park or Palm Meadows. Zayat calls Tampa “a quirky surface” and didn’t want El Kabeir there.

With six starts under his belt, El Kabeir has more foundation than most top 3-year-olds. So, it is less of a concern if he misses a day or two of training, as was the case last week, when the track was closed two days.

“He does put enough into his gallops to be fine,” Terranova said last Friday after El Kabeir worked five furlongs in the snow. “Fitness isn’t a concern at all. It takes a certain type of horse to withstand all this and be able to adjust around inconsistent days of training and tracks. So far, so good.”

Neither Terranova nor Zayat expressed concern with Aqueduct’s inner track.

El Kabeir has become easier to train and, in his Jerome victory, showed the ability to sit off horses. In his previous victories, he had raced on the lead. Physically, Zayat said, El Kabeir has filled out and eats “like there’s no tomorrow.”

Terranova believes El Kabeir has thrived on what, by today’s standards, is a busy schedule. El Kabeir won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29 before the Jerome. Following the Withers, Aqueduct has the $400,000 Gotham on March 7 and the $1 million Wood Memorial on April 4. Either or both could be on his schedule.

“A horse like him is doing so well, and he seems to be thriving, getting better off these races,” Terranova said. “Why not give it to him? You spend more time training and waiting and trying to regroup for races off [layoffs]. It’s not like we’re forcing him to these races; he’s just responding so well and doing so well.”

El Kabeir also responds to C.C. Lopez, the 54-year-old jockey who rode the colt for the first time in the Jerome. The horse broke a step slowly from the outside post, and Lopez didn’t rush the horse, allowing him to sit just off the early pace.

“I personally am a fan of Chuckie Lopez – the man’s also my age,” said Zayat, 52. “Some of these jocks don’t get their fair shot. Why take off the man who’s ridden him well, who knows how to ride a speed horse and who has tremendous years of experience?”

And like El Kabeir, Lopez knows how to handle a New York winter.