Sharp Azteca to Miss Godolphin Mile, Target Met

Sharp Azteca | Lauren King

Ivan Rodriguez's Sharp Azteca (Freud), winner of last autumn's GI Cigar Mile, will miss an expected start in the Mar. 31 G2 Godolphin Mile at the Dubai World Cup Carnival. After suffering a minor setback in a recent workout, Navarro took to Twitter to announce that a decision was made to re-route the 5-year-old to the GI Met Mile at Belmont in early June.

“[The] horse is not training as we expected,” Navarro wrote. “[The] Godolphin Mile was our goal. However, with this setback we have decided to skip this race and give Sharp Azteca a few weeks off. Now, [the] Met Mile will be our next target.”

According to comments published in the Daily Racing Form from Rodriguez, Sharp Azteca returned from his Mar. 10 workout at Gulfstream Park West with minor inflammation in his foot, which ultimately scanned clear. Navarro is still expected to saddle X Y Jet (Kantharos) for Rodriguez's Gelfenstein Farm and Rockingham Ranch in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen. Sharp Azteca, meanwhile, will be allowed to recuperate before resuming training towards a spring campaign.

“Our priority is the health of the horse and we decided to give it a few extra weeks of rest,” Navarro added.

Sharp Azteca enjoyed a stellar 2017 season, which, in addition to his Cigar Mile triumph, saw him capture the GII Gulfstream Park H., GII Kelso H. and GIII Monmouth Cup. He also finished a narrowly beaten second in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a close third in the Godolphin Mile. The dark bay was last seen finishing eighth in the Jan. 27 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational after being shuffled back in the early stages of the race.

 

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