Timing is right for Frosted in Whitney

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin believes there were several factors that led to Frosted’s supernatural performance in winning the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap two months ago.

The one-turn configuration of the race could have had something to do with it. Being reunited with jockey Joel Rosario. Racing on Lasix after two races in Dubai without the anti-bleeding medication. Not having to face American Pharoah.

“But probably the biggest thing I attribute it to is the timing,” said McLaughlin, referring to the fact that Frosted had 77 days between the Dubai World Cup and Met Mile. “Last year, we were running him often. Now, with time and space, he’s been good. Even though he’s perfectly sound, time and space is important. That’s what I attribute it to. That’s why we waited a while to run here.”

“Here” is Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. It is perhaps the second-biggest event run during the 40-day meet behind only the $1.25 million Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds. The Whitney comes 56 days after Frosted’s tour-de-force victory in the Met Mile, in which he set records for margin of victory (14 1/4 lengths) and final time (1:32.73) for a race that has a 123-year history. Frosted earned a whopping 123 Beyer Speed Figure for that win.

The Whitney will give McLaughlin an idea of what direction to go with Frosted for the remainder of the year. By winning the Met Mile, Frosted earned a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. The Whitney, run at 1 1/8 miles around two turns, offers a fees-paid berth in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

“I hope he runs huge and wins comfortably so we’re staying long because a two-turn mile at Santa Anita isn’t ideal,” McLaughlin said of the configuration of the BC Dirt Mile.

In two of the last five years, the Met Mile winner came back to win the Whitney – Tizway in 2011 and Honor Code last year. In 2010, Met Mile winner Quality Road was beaten a head in the Whitney by Blame.

Frosted has been successful going 1 1/8 miles around two turns, having won the Wood Memorial and Pennsylvania Derby at that distance.

Frosted drew post 4 and will again be ridden by Rosario in a six-horse field for the Whitney. The pace of the race looks to be Noble Bird, who was terrific in winning the Grade 3 Pimlico Special in May but has been beaten by double-digit lengths in four of his last six starts.

Those trying to beat Frosted most likely will look to Effinex, the two-time winner of the Suburban Handicap who also owns wins at 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 1 Clark and Grade 2 Oaklawn Park handicaps.

Effinex, trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Tri-Bone Stables, is coming off a neck victory over Samraat in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont on July 9. This will be his third race in seven weeks. He finished sixth as the 3-5 favorite in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 18.

“He’s a tough old horse,” said Jerkens, whose late father, Allen, the Hall of Fame trainer, won the 1973 Whitney with Onion, who beat Secretariat. “He’s a little bit of a throwback to the kind they used to have years ago. Every time you say, ‘Geez, maybe I shouldn’t do this,’ then you look at him, and he tells you, ‘Why not?’ He’s a big, strong, strapping horse. He’s bred very well, has a lot of quality. As long as everything’s good, you got to give it a go, especially up here in Saratoga – anything happens.”

Completing the field are Upstart, third to Frosted in the Met Mile; El Kabeir, who finished ahead of Effinex when he was fourth in the Stephen Foster; and Comfort, a winner of two one-turn route races at Belmont.

The Whitney is race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 1 p.m. Eastern and includes the Grade 1 Test for 3-year-old fillies and three turf stakes, topped by the Grade 3, $200,000 Waya.

KEY CONTENDERS

Frosted, by Tapit

Last 3 Beyers: 123-103-106

◗ Shows a solid series of works over the synthetic surface at Greentree, where he has been based since the beginning of May.

“He’s flying; he couldn’t be doing any better,” McLaughlin said. “We’re happy and ready to go.”

◗ He was a bit wide when fifth to California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup, and the 1 1/4 miles of that race may be beyond his best.

Effinex, by Mineshaft

Last 3 Beyers: 104-91-106

◗ He has thrown in two clunkers in his last five starts, but they come with excuses. In the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, where he was third, he broke out with a case of hives and was making his first start in 4 1/2 months. In the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, he got upset right before the start of the race.

“You hope he’s not overtrained,” Jerkens said. “Sometimes that can happen to him if he works fast. He’ll fool you. You think he’s doing good, then he works fast and you think, ‘Boy, he’s really doing good.’ Then, when you run him, the opposite happens.”

◗ Jerkens gave him only one work between the Suburban and Whitney.

Upstart, by Flatter

Last 3 Beyers: 97-98-92

◗ Trainer Rick Violette equipped him with blinkers last time in hopes that they would allow the jockey to get him a better early position. It didn’t work, so Violette worked the horse very fast again with blinkers two weeks ago.

“Hopefully, that helps us leave there and get a decent position,” Violette said. “It’s not like we want to be one-two early, but you’d just like not to take the last seat available. You’d like to have something to say with where you’re going to be placed.”