Sore foot sidelines Mandaloun, will point for Saudi Cup

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mandaloun, among the leaders of the 3-year-old division, will most likely miss the major races the remainder of the year and will have an early 2022 target of the $20 million Saudi Cup in February, his connections said Monday.

Mandaloun has a sore right hind foot, and though the X-rays are clean, the horse will likely get six weeks off. Garrett O’Rourke, the racing manager of Juddmonte Farms, which owns Mandaloun said, “The family really wants to target the Saudi Cup.”

In his most recent start, Mandaloun was beaten a nose by Hot Rod Charlie in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 17. However, he was elevated to first by the stewards who deemed Hot Rod Charlie interfered with Midnight Bourbon, who clipped heels in the stretch, stumbled, and unseated jockey Paco Lopez.

Mandaloun, trained by Brad Cox, finished second to Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby, but could be awarded victory in that race if Medina Spirit is disqualified for a positive post-race test of betamethasone, a corticosteroid that is not permitted to be in a horse’s system on race day.

Following the Haskell, Mandaloun was shipped to Saratoga where he was being considered for either the Travers on Aug. 28 or the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 25.

Cox said the horse would likely be sent to Juddmonte in Kentucky in a week or so.

In between the Derby and Haskell, Mandaloun won the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. Earlier in the year, he won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Mandaloun, a son of Into Mischief, has basically been in training for more than a year. He won his debut last Oct. 24 at Keeneland, and has won 5 of 8 starts.

“He’s a beautiful-looking horse,” O’Rourke said. “He’s got size and scope for an Into Mischief and is a horse that we hope will even get better with age.”