Adam Coglianese Photo

Frosted’s 2016 G1 Met Mile victory one for the ages

by Christian Abdo

A classy group of six will line up for Saturday’s 131st Grade 1, $1 million Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 8 Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga Race Course. The field includes the multiple graded stakes-winner Post Time, who hopes to channel the talent and tenacity of his sire Frosted - winner of the 2016 edition in a performance for the ages.

Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and owned by Godolphin, Frosted won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap by 14 1/4 lengths in a blistering final time of 1:32.73 going the one-turn mile on June 11, 2016 at Belmont Park.

“It was one of the most impressive performances of my training career. I was watching with my wife and kids, in the tunnel at Belmont,” said McLaughlin. “It was an impressive race, and hard to believe watching it.”

The 4-year-old Tapit gray launched his 2016 campaign with a pair of starts overseas at Meydan Racecourse with William Buick aboard, making a successful seasonal debut in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round Two in February ahead of a fifth in the 10-furlong Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March.

McLaughlin said the return ship, which was regarded as a challenging one to win off of at the time, wasn’t a great concern. Yet, he wouldn’t have expected to win so powerfully.

“The world has gotten smaller with travel. A lot of horses have done well now coming back from Dubai, but that was incredible,” McLaughlin said. “His race was just incredible for a first race back.”

Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, who had piloted Frosted to sophomore victories in Aqueduct Racetrack’s then-Grade 1 Wood Memorial and Parx Racing’s Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, was back aboard for the Met Mile.

Frosted broke from post 3 in the Met Mile carrying a field-high 120 pounds versus nine foes, including multiple graded stakes-winners Upstart, Noble Bird, and Blofeld along with a pair of classy McLaughlin-conditioned stablemates in Marking and Tamarkuz.

Frosted sat 3 3/4 lengths off-the-pace along the rail in sixth position as Noble Bird and Anchor Down dueled for the lead through a quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds over the fast main track.

Down the backstretch, Frosted continued to skim the rail 3 1/2 lengths back of the front-end battle between Noble Bird and Anchor Down with stablemate Marking advancing between them to join the fray through a half-mile in 45.35.

Around the turn, Frosted began to reel in the front trio. With no motion from Rosario other than angling him out wide, Frosted was going by the frontrunning leader Anchor Down when approaching the stretch through three quarters in 1:09.36. In the blink of an eye, Frosted was 6 1/2-lengths in front at the stretch call.

“Nothing was asked,” Rosario said. “I wasn’t even moving until the last furlong, and then he just took off.”

NBC announcer Larry Collmus exclaimed, “Frosted has gone on by and he has exploded! He is absolutely blowing his competition away! Oh my goodness, look at Frosted today!”

Frosted’s advantage extended to 14 1/4 lengths when stopping the clock in 1:32.73: a stakes-record for both the final time and margin of victory.

“That was an amazing performance. He did it really easily. With as fast of a time as he did it, it was really unbelievable,” said Rosario. “A really good horse.”

Before the race, Frosted was better-known as the gutsy challenger to Hall of Famer American Pharoah. The rivalry began in the 2015 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby when he put in a late charge for fourth as the latter embarked on his ensuing Triple Crown journey.

Next, Frosted watched from second position as American Pharoah completed racing’s most historic feat for the first time in 37 years with a win in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

The rivalry was renewed in the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga when Frosted wore down the Champ enough to break his eight graded-stakes win streak, but Keen Ice was the one to swoop in and capture the ‘Mid-Summer Derby.’

McLaughlin said that he always believed in his horse, but the Met Mile was a breakthrough performance, as it was awarded a 123 Beyer Speed Figure. The number is believed to be the highest ever recorded at the one-mile distance.

“He was always a beautiful horse with a great pedigree, so winning that Met Mile was special,” said McLaughlin. “I would think it would help him a lot in terms of advertisements for his stallion career. He is a beautiful horse, always was a beautiful horse. Great conformation and a great pedigree.”

Keep an eye out for Frosted progeny Saturday, including the aforementioned Post Time [post 3, Sheldon Russell, 7-2ML] for conditioner Brittany Russell in the Met Mile, contested out of the Wilson Chute in Race 10. In addition, the Brett Creighton-trained Grade 3 Chick Lang-winner Frost Free [post 5, Jose Ortiz, 15-1ML] is a contender in the seven-furlong Grade 1, $500,000 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun in Race 8.

Frosted proved the Met Mile was no fluke with a subsequent score in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, solidifying his position among the best of his crop.

While McLaughlin can’t pinpoint just one reason for that season’s success, there is one trick he gives a bit of credit to during training at the Godolphin-owned Greentree property adjacent to the Saratoga-oval.

“He trained right-handed all the time, not many people get to train right-handed, but he trained right-handed every day at Greentree,” said the former conditioner turned jockey agent. “It helped a lot. As training horses goes, you are always going left-handed. Most issues will be left front, left hind, so we switched him around to try and help, and it certainly did.”

With a vision of Frosted’s untapped potential, making sure the track was clear to travel clockwise was worth any extra effort.

“There were no other horses there because we were private at Greentree. So, we set it up. We’d train six of them right-handed in the same set as him,” McLaughlin explained. “He pretty much had the track to himself.”

Rosario, who credited the excellent training job by McLaughlin, gave equally high praise to the brilliant Frosted, who ranks fifth on his all-time earnings list according to Equibase with $3,126,000 across his 10 trips at the helm.

“He’s up there,” said Rosario regarding where Frosted stacks up against his best mounts ever. “He still ran a fast time, even without being asked. Nothing you can take away from him. I’m just glad I got to be a part of the team. He’s amazing.”