Godolphin trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is still in awe of the performance turned in by Frosted to win the G1 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park in June by a staggering 14 and a quarter lengths.
Godolphin trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is still in awe of the performance turned in by Frosted to win the G1 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park in June by a staggering 14 and a quarter lengths.
And he is still asking himself how and why such an authoritative galloping display should occur midway through the grey colt's four-year-old season.
"It was one of the greatest runs I have ever been involved with -- or ever seen. And I have been going racing all my life," McLaughlin declared.
"It was a fantastic race. But I am still trying to get my head around it," he added.
McLaughlin has found himself going over the different sets of circumstances that Frosted has encountered over the past two years. He has been trying to establish a pattern that can be followed in an attempt to replicate that now-famous June 11 romp at Belmont.
"There are just so many variables," he pointed out. "We gave him time when he came to Dubai for the World Cup in March, and again when he left to come back to the States.
"Joel Rosario, his regular jockey, is different to others. He rides Frosted, keeping him on the bridle in his races as long as he can. Jockey and horse get on real well.
"Then, you consider that Belmont is a one-turn mile. And, he was back on Lasix."
Yes, the trainer is spot on. The variables are endless. Now, McLaughlin is trying to follow his interpretation of those factors in preparing the colt for his next scheduled outing, the G1 Whitney Stakes, over nine furlongs on dirt at Saratoga on August 6.
"He is training great," McLaughlin reported. "He will have to carry top weight in the Whitney, but the weight range is small. Top weight will be 124lb, but the bottom is 117lb."
The trainer has been looking at the Whitney for Frosted for some time now -- and he has nothing but praise for the strongly-built son of Tapit, who, he agreed, has the legs and constitution of a horse of iron.
"He is a very sound horse. He is highly talented and outstandingly versatile. To finish second in a Belmont (over a mile and a half) and then to do what he did in the Met Mile shows you just how versatile he is," he added.
Kiaran McLaughlin is confident Frosted will do Godolphin proud at Saratoga next month. "To me, he's better than he has ever been," he concluded. The trainer's stamp of approval is worth noting.
