McLaughlin Defends Rosario's Ride on Frosted

Joel Rosario and Frosted | Sarah K. Andrew

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After finishing a troubled third aboard 2-5 favorite Frosted (Tapit) in Saturday's GI Woodward, Joel Rosario has come under criticism for his ride and particularly his tactics in the stretch. Rosario never went to the whip on Frosted and seemed to be only mildly encouraging him, which some saw as him being overconfident. But trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told the TDN Sunday that he had no major issues with Rosario's ride.

Frosted finished third, beaten a head by Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) and another head by stablemate Mubtaahij (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire})

“He never hit him but he doesn't like to be hit,” McLaughlin said. “He's never hit him in the past, if you go back and look. He just does not respond to the whip. He dislikes it. I don't think things went well for us and I know it looks bad, but it looks worse than it really is because people do not know he doesn't like to be hit.”

The Equibase chart caller obviously felt Rosario gave it a lackadaisical try as the footnote noted that Frosted…”remained confidently handled advancing mildly five wide through the far turn under his own power, angled eight wide into upper stretch, lugged in, straightened away not switching leads immediately, had the rider apply the mildest of hand rides rallying to catch on to the top trio a furlong from home the outermost of the quartet, drifted in under overconfident handling…”

In addition to what happened in the stretch, Frosted broke slowly and then was taken extremely wide on the far turn. According to Trakus, Frosted raced 41 feet further than Shaman Ghost did.

“I know it doesn't look good,” McLaughlin said. “The start hurt us a lot. He didn't break well and then he was in fifth place and then he went extremely wide. He ran 41 feet further than the winner and that is not ideal. But the horse does run for Joel and he's not easy to ride. It was not one of his best rides but I'm not going to crucify him for the ride.”

McLaughlin said he saw no reason why Rosario should lose the mount but said no firm decision would be made until everyone in the Godolphin camp was heard from.

McLaughlin added that no decision has been made as to whether Frosted would start next in the Oct. 8 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup or make his next appearance in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. He did confirm that Mubtaahij will race in the Gold Cup.

“Nothing is for sure as far as his next start because Sheikh Mohammed is involved,” he said. “He loves this horse so he's going to be involved in the decision making process, so I don't know what we're going to do. He did come out of the race in good shape.”

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