Frosted Runs Record Breaking Metropolitan Handicap

By: News Team

Belmont Park was treated to a scintillating performance on June 11^th when Frosted galloped to a record breaking win in the 123^rd running of the $1,250,000 Gr.1 Metropolitan Handicap. The 4-year-old son of Tapit set a new stakes record and hit the wire 14 ¼ lengths ahead of a very classy field.

Runner-up to American Pharoah in last year’s Belmont Stakes, Frosted faced a field that included Noble Bird, Stanford, Calculator and Upstart. But the competition was simply not up to par with the gray, whose impressive turn of foot left nine horses toiling behind him on the stretch.

Leaving the gate, Noble Bird (with Julien Leparoux up) set fractions for the first half mile while Anchor Down and Marking stalked closely behind. The Mark Casse-trained runner ran the quarter in :22.78 and the half in :45.35 before losing the lead to Anchor Down, who clocked the three-quarters in a hot 1:09.36. Meanwhile, Frosted (ridden by Joel Rosario) sat patiently in 5^th and began to move on the final turn. Passing foes one by one, he entered the stretch in the four-path and exploded down the lane with impressive speed, delivering one of the most brilliant performances on the Belmont Stakes undercard. He stopped the clock at 1:32.73 – the fastest the Metropolitan Handicap has ever been run.

“He is a nice horse,” expressed jockey Joel Rosario of his winning mount. “He did it all on his own… I was just a passenger.”

Prior to Saturday’s win, Frosted spent the earlier portion of the year in Dubai, where he won the Gr.2 Godolphin Mile in dominant fashion. After finishing 5^th in the Gr.1 Dubai World Cup, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin shipped the colt back to Belmont Park to rest. The goal since then had been the Metropolitan.

“He’s a special horse and it’s great to see him get a win like this,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “The margin of victory today 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 a field like that is pretty incredible.”

The Gr.1 Metropolitan Handicap is part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” challenge series, which grants the winner of each qualifying race a spot in a pertaining division in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 4-5 at Santa Anita Park (CA).

The win on Saturday grants Frosted a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. But with that impressive of a performance, McLaughlin is considering a start in the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Classic once again.

“It might be the Classic instead of the Mile,” stated McLaughlin. “But we’ll worry about that later. He’s very talented… it was a great win for the entire team.”

Of 16 career starts, Frosted has recorded 5 wins, 6 seconds and 1 third, totaling $3,182,800 in earnings since August 2014. This was the Kentucky-bred’s second grade one victory following his win in the 2015 Wood Memorial. Saturday also marked Kiaran McLaughlin’s second Metropolitan Handicap victory and his second victory of the day on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

Photo: © EverythingEQ.com / Mary Ellet