No Dubai this year for Salutos Amigos

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The logistics of getting Salutos Amigos to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 26 turned out to be more difficult than trainer David Jacobson had hoped, so the 6-year-old gelding instead will make his next start in the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 9.

Jacobson said Salutos Amigos came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap in good order, but with only two weeks to the Dubai race – instead of three, as was the case last year, when he ran in the Golden Shaheen – the timing won’t work for a trip to Dubai.

Jacobson said blood work would have had to be taken on Salutos Amigos on Sunday and then driven up to Cornell, where the lab could turn out the results in 48 hours. Salutos Amigos could have been flown to Dubai on Thursday, but the trip would have included a stop in Europe and been 28 hours in total, without factoring in any potential delays.

Last year, there were three weeks between the Tom Fool and the Golden Shaheen, and Salutos Amigos was in such good form that Dubai had been strongly considered going into the Tom Fool. This year, Salutos Amigos had run second in two stakes in Southern California and had only one win in his last eight starts prior to Saturday, so Dubai wasn’t as much on the radar.

On Saturday, Salutos Amigos turned in an eye-catching performance, rallying from last of 11 to win the Tom Fool by 2 1/2 lengths over Always Sunshine. Salutos Amigos ran six furlongs in 1:10.17 and earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I didn’t expect Salutos to run that way,” Jacobson said Sunday. “Very pleasantly surprised.”

Jacobson said the foot issues that have plagued Salutos Amigos throughout his career are behind him, and he’s looking forward to giving the horse a full campaign in 2016 that could include the Carter; the Grade 2 True North and/or the Belmont Sprint Championship at Belmont Park; and the Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Forego – both Grade 1 races – at Saratoga. The ultimate goal would be the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“I believe he’s ready to start a campaign now,” Jacobson said.

Others pointing to the Carter, a seven-furlong race, include Green Gratto, the winner of the Fall Highweight and Gravesend; Sassicaia, the winner of the Grade 3 Toboggan; and Majestic Affair, the General George Stakes runner-up. Dads Caps has won the last two runnings of the Carter but finished a well-beaten ninth Saturday in the Tom Fool.

On Sunday, Majestic Affair worked a half-mile in 48.49 seconds over the Belmont training track in company with the 3-year-old stakes winner Flexibility, who is a candidate for the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9.