Santa Anita: Frumious eyes Dubai’s Golden Shaheen

Frumious, winner of the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes last Saturday, is a candidate for the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 31.

“We haven’t made a solid plan, but we’re thinking about going to Dubai,” trainer Jeff Bonde said Wednesday. “It’s probably a good chance he’d go.”

Owned by George and Mary Clare Schmitt, Frumious has won 6 of 15 starts and $259,192. The Palos Verdes was his first stakes win.

Ridden by Antonio Castanon, Frumious led throughout the Palos Verdes, winning by 5 3/4 lengths and finishing six furlongs in a quick 1:07.28.

“That’s the way he likes to run,” Bonde said of Frumious’s front-running style.

Frumious won his third consecutive race in the Palos Verdes, a streak that began in a $40,000 claimer at Hollywood Park in December. Bonde said that Frumious has changed for the better since he was gelded.

“It’s made a big difference,” Bonde said. “It’s taken 100 pounds off his neck, and it makes it easier.”

Bonde said the winning streak has made Frumious a more confident horse, even though there was a chance he could have been claimed last month.

“That’s why you do it to get them to try again,” Bonde said of the class drop. “Sometimes you lose them, and that’s what makes the claiming game. It’s taken him a while to get right. He’s got talent and he’s a taken a step forward.”