There have been some tremendous performances by some legendary horses in the vaunted 125-year history of the GI Metropolitan H. Names like Kelso, Carry Back, Forego, Conquistador Cielo have won the race–the latter en route to a victory in the Belmont S. More recently, the Met had been annexed by the likes of Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, Palace Malice–victorious in the Belmont 12 months prior–and Honor Code. But no horse had done what Godolphin's Frosted (Tapit) accomplished Saturday, as he took command of the Met two furlongs from home and sprinted away to take it by a whopping 14 1/4-length margin in stakes-record time.
Saturday, Belmont Park
MOHEGAN SUN METROPOLITAN H.-GI, $1,250,000, BEL, 6-11, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:32.73 (NSR), ft.
1–FROSTED, 120, c, 4, by Tapit
1st Dam: Fast Cookie (GSW, $557,480), by Deputy Minister
2nd Dam: Fleet Lady, by Avenue of Flags
3rd Dam: Dear Mimi, by Roberto
O-Godolphin, LLC; B-Darley (KY); T-Kiaran P. McLaughlin; J-Joel
Rosario. $670,000. Lifetime Record: 16-5-6-1, $3,182,800.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.[bullet ad=”kbif-g1″]2–Anchor Down, 116, r, 5, Tapit–Successful Outlook, by
Orientate. ($250,000 Ylg '12 KEESEP). O-Alto Racing, LLC;
B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$230,000.[bullet ad=”gainesway-bred-consigned”]3–Upstart, 117, r, 4, Flatter–Party Silks, by Touch Gold.($130,000 Ylg '13 SARAUG). O-Ralph M. Evans & WinStar Farm
LLC; B-Gerald A. Nielsen (NY); T-Richard A. Violette, Jr.
$125,000.[bullet ad=”summerfieldsales-sold”][bullet ad=”summerfield-halfbrosellsftnaug”][bullet ad=”nytbdf-12500″]Margins: 14 1/4, 1, 1. Odds: 2.35, 12.40, 9.40.
Also Ran: Marking, Ami's Flatter, Noble Bird, Blofeld, Stanford, Tamarkuz, Calculator. Scratched: El Kabeir, Sloane Avenue, Donworth. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
The 2015 GI Wood Memorial winner, Frosted was fourth to American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Kentucky Derby and in the GI Belmont S. on this program, then returned from a brief freshening to finish runner-up to Texas Red (Afleet Alex) in the GII Jim Dandy S. in August. Third behind upset-minded Keen Ice (Curlin) in the GI Travers S. after unusually prompting the pace, the homebred was at his best when taking the GII Pennsylvania Derby by two lengths Sept. 19, but he beat just one home in American Pharoah's GI Breeders' Cup Classic and called it a season.
Sent to Dubai over this past winter, Frosted dismantled the field by five lengths in Round II of the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Feb. 4, skipped the final round on Super Saturday Mar. 5 and could do no better than a one-paced fifth behind California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in the G1 Dubai World Cup when last seen Mar. 26.
Anchor Down sped across from his high draw to set the early pace in the Met, but Noble Bird (Birdstone) mustered at the rail to join the fray as the opening quarter-mile was up in a relatively sedate :22.78. Frosted was kept inside by Joel Rosario and they settled in fifth or sixth spot on the backstretch. Asked for a bit of run on the turn, Frosted began to improve his position as he slid up underneath GII Charles Town Classic winner Stanford (Malibu Moon) and by the time the field had reached the quarter-pole, the gray was hard held behind the leading trio just awaiting further direction. Angled into the four path leaving the five-sixteenths marker, Frosted quickly claimed the scalp of Anchor Down to his outside and once Rosario took his foot off the brakes, the colt responded, immediately opening up a massive advantage in one of the true jaw-dropping performances of the season. The final time of 1:32.73 eclipsed the previous stakes record of 1:32.80 set by Honour and Glory (Relaunch) in 1996 and was within 0.49 of the track record set by Najran (Runaway Groom). With the win, Frosted earns a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, though trainer Kiaran McLaughlin may have other ideas in mind.
“We'll worry about that later,” he commented. “It might be the Classic instead of the Mile. We'll wait and see. He is very talented and it was a great win for the entire team.”
He added, “It was unbelievable. It was a wild, wild race. He has been doing great all the time and you say that every time that they are doing great, but for him to beat that great of horses like that is pretty incredible.”
The winner's dam was acquired by Darley with its purchase of the vast majority of the Thoroughbred holdings of Robert and Janice McNair's Stonerside Stable in October 2008. Fast Cookie, a half-sister to 2008 Eclipse Award-winning juvenile Midshipman (Unbridled's Song), was a talented and versatile racemare in her own right, with a victory in the GII Cotillion H. and multiple stakes placings on the turf, including a third in the GIII Eatontown H. Frosted is kin to the 3-year-old filly Indulgent (Bernardini), fourth in a May 11 Belmont maiden, and to the latter's unraced full-sister Apiary.
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