Salutos Amigos doubtful for Dubai

Though he hasn’t completely closed the door on shipping his top sprinter, Salutos Amigos, to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen, trainer David Jacobson said Wednesday that he is leaning toward staying home and pointing to one or two graded stakes at Aqueduct.

Jacobson said Dubai is “still in the discussion phase; it’s all about the horse – if we feel he’s up to the task or not. But we just feel so much more comfortable playing on our home field.

“It’s a 19-hour flight; it takes me away from my whole stable for a minimum of two weeks. What’s the value of that?” Jacobson added. “It’s a $2 million race, but it doesn’t matter if it’s a $100 million race if you don’t win it.”

Jacobson could run Salutos Amigos in the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool on March 7 and/or the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter on April 4. Both races are at Aqueduct, where Salutos Amigos is based.

Salutos Amigos won the Grade 3 Toboggan on Feb. 7 and was being pointed to last Monday’s Grade 3 General George but was withheld from that race because Jacobson couldn’t get him back to the track due to the weather.

Jacobson said Salutos Amigos has a history of foot issues, and he has kept the horse in the barn since the Toboggan not due to a concern over the track but with the paths leading back and forth from the barn to the track.

“I’m being very protective, especially with this weather we’re having,” Jacobson said. “Everything is frozen solid.”

As of Wednesday, Salutos Amigos still had not returned to the track.