Secretariat and Arrogate were uttered in the same sentence Saturday after he won the $10 Dubai World Cup and the words did not come from some fledgling in racing. Arrogate was not ready for the start, was far back early but settled and rallied like a freight train.
None other than Arrogate’s trainer Bob Baffert compared the two horses after his current star defied a horrible trip and waltzed to victory under Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
Baffert: “What a job he did. Unbelievable. This is the greatest horse we’ve seen since Secretariat. Unbelievable. When I was watching it I thought ‘I hope Mike takes care of him.’ Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I was actually listening to the crowd and everyone was thinking ‘oh, he has no chance.’ That was an incredible performance. That is the best I’ve ever seen in my life.”
When Baffert mentioned Smith taking care of him, he meant that he hoped the rider would not let the horse do something detrimental to himself after such a horrible beginning.
Secretariat is arguably the best horse of all-time. He is regarded by many as the best horse America has seen in decades. The Triple Crown winner completed his classic run by winning the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in track record time. The effort is widely regarded as one of the greatest races of all time.
During his racing career, Secretariat won five Eclipse Awards and was Horse of the Year twice. He entered the Racing Hall of Fame in 1974. In a list of the top 100 U.S. racehorses of the 20th century, Secretariat is second only to Man o’War.
For the record, the Dubai World Cup was run over a track labelled muddy. There was quite a bit of kick back for the runners to deal with but Arrogate got the 2,000 meters in 2:02.53. This distance of 2,000 meters is about a mile and a quarter.
Gun Runner fired and it was no disgrace for him to run second and Neolithic ran third. The fourth and fifth finishers in the Dubai World Cup are solid performers. Mubtaahij, a Michael de Kock student who was second in the World Cup last year, ran fourth. Promising Japanese runner Awardee ran 5th.
Gun Runner has now stamped himself as one of the best horses in the world. He has won half of his 14 starts and has now earned over $4.3 million. As he did Saturday, he showed legit speed, but he doesn’t need the lead to win. Sure, he cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Secretariat but he has run well at a number of different venues and that will give his owners options.
Considering Neolithic has only raced nine times in his career, his future is as bright as any horse in the country not named Arrogate. He was coming off a layoff Saturday and still gave it his best and he has been able to be placed anywhere and still perform.
Any horse on any given day can take advantage of good racing luck. The luck may come in the form of a favorable pace scenario or the way a particular bias is unfolding but few horses can overcome tremendous adversity and win.
Secretariat could because he was brilliant. Arrogate just may be in the same class as the Lucien Laurin trained superstar if he can build on his Dubai World Cup success.
Arrogate has now won four Grade 1 races in a row and four different tracks. His coming out party was the tour de force in the Travers Stakes when he posted a 122 Beyer Speed Figure. At this point he seems capable of almost anything.
The future for Arrogate seems unlimited. The ultimate goals will obviously be the Breeders’ Cup Classic and to maybe defend his title in the Pegasus World Cup. Baffert has shown over the years that he is not averse to shipping his horses around and it would be great for the game to share Arrogate. But the fact of the matter is Baffert will do what is best for the horse. With the Breeders’ Cup run at Del Mar this year, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic makes the most sense for Arrogate down the line.
Secretariat, Arrogate Uttered Together
