Romans considering options for Mr Freeze

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The flight carrying locally based horses to Dubai for next Saturday’s World Cup program took off as scheduled from Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon. But one horse conspicuous by his absence on the flight manifest was Mr Freeze, the likely favorite for the $1.5 Godolphin Mile at Meydan on March 28.

Trainer Dale Romans opted to bypass the Godolphin Mile despite the fact Mr Freeze is coming off arguably the two best performances of his career – a second-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup here on Jan. 25 and a resounding victory five weeks later in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile for which he received a lifetime best 107 Beyer Speed Figure.

Romans originally voiced concerns about whether Mr Freeze would have trouble returning from Dubai with the return flight scheduled to make a stop in Germany along the way. But in the end there was more to his decision to stay home in light of the worldwide crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I wasn’t comfortable going to Dubai myself,” said Romans. “So why would I be comfortable sending my help? If it was a $12 million race and life changing, it might be different. This was only a $1.5 million purse, which is nothing to sneeze at and tough to pass up when you’re probably going to be the favorite. But under the circumstances, I just didn’t feel it was the right thing to do to go.”

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Romans said he’s considering several other options for Mr Freeze’s next start, although he ruled out the upcoming Hal’s Hope, a Grade 3 carded at 1 1/8 miles here next week.

Romans is similarly weighing options for his top 3-year-old prospects Dennis’ Moment and Attachment Rate, third in the Grade 3 Gotham in his last start, in light of the announcement earlier this week that the Kentucky Derby will be postponed until Sept. 5. Dennis’ Moment finished far back launching his 2020 campaign in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. He has not had a work since.

The Blue Grass, his next likely goal, has been canceled along with the entire Keeneland spring meet.

“Postponing the Derby has pretty much changed everybody’s plans, but it certainly won’t hurt me any with both my horses,” said Romans. “Both were still relatively light on experience and will surely benefit from the added time moving forward towards the Derby later in the year.”