Frosted Back on Center Stage in Woodward

Four weeks ago, when Godolphin's Frosted (Tapit) won the GI Whitney S. with devastating ease, the gray colt was the talk of the racing world as the leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Classic and Horse of the Year.

Since then, however, we have seen a magnificent performance from California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in the GI Pacific Classic and a track record-shattering effort by Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) in the GI Travers S., putting Frosted's accomplishments this year to the back burner a bit. The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee will try to regain some of that earlier momentum as the prohibitive favorite in Saturday's $600,000 Grade I Woodward S.

Returning from a fifth-place finish in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26, Frosted produced what, at that point, was the most impressive performance of the year in his 14 1/4-length stakes record-setting romp in the GI Mohegan Sun Metroplitan H. Given nearly two months off after, he followed that up with a convincing two-length triumph in the Whitney, in which he set a taxing pace and never appeared fully extended to finish.

Pegged at 1-2 on the morning line, Frosted figures to be tough to down, but will face eight rivals, three more than he vanquished in the Whitney. One of his toughest challengers may be stablemate Mubtaahij (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). A runaway winner of the G2 UAE Derby as a 3-year-old, the bay has yet to find the mark in his six subsequent starts, but most recently ran a good third after closing into a slow pace in the GII Suburban H. July 9 at Belmont.

Joseph W. Sutton's Bradester (Lion Heart) is the only other Grade I winner in the field besides the favorite, capturing the GI Stephen Foster H. wire-to-wire June 18 at Churchill. The 6-year-old followed that with a facile score in the GII Monmouth Cup S. July 31, his third straight victory. Drawing one slot outside of Frosted, he figures to make it tough on that one up front if he has designs on the lead again.

My Meadowview Farm's Samraat (Noble Causeway), a promising 3-year-old who only started once at four and appeared to have lost a step at five, sprang to life with a narrow second in the aforementioned Suburban. Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) adds Lasix after a dull fifth in that race. The Stronach Stables colorbearer dominated the GII Brooklyn S. at Belmont June 11.