NEWS: RACING

Mind Your Biscuits goes from post 14 to the top of the world in Dubai’s Golden Shaheen

Saturday, March 25th, 2017
Dubai Racing Club

Dubai Racing Club

By Sarah Mace

New York-bred, New York-sired Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) absolutely sparkled on the international stage Saturday. The 4-year-old chestnut broke from the outermost post of 14 in the Group 1 US$2m Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse, covered the most ground with a wide trip, and still managed to post a much-the-best open-length win.

Joel Rosario, who had the riding assignment, had a well of prior success aboard Mind Your Biscuits to draw on. In three previous efforts, the pair finished a good-looking third in the Breeder’s Cup Sprint (eventually collecting second money due to a disqualification), won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, and came up only a neck short in the Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 25.

Chad Summers, the colt’s 32-year-old conditioner and part-owner, is a veteran horseman, but newly-minted trainer, and was looking for his first victory. In the days leading up to the race, he was brimming with confidence.

After the draw, Summers said, “The outside post is what it is. You can’t change it and there are horses with much worse post positions in relation to their running styles than ours. I think that on paper the race sets up well for us otherwise and we’re not going to change our running style. We can be tactical enough but he is a little better making one sustained run from farther behind and he should like the longer straight here. He’s shown us every sign that he’s sitting on his lifetime best race and I think his lifetime best wins this by three lengths.”

On race day Mind Your Biscuits broke cleanly from his outside berth and was content to drop back into tenth position for the next 800 meters.

The colt raced at least seven-wide down the backstretch and took the turn wide. When Mind Your Biscuits and Rosario hit the head of the long stretch, they put Summers’ plan  of “one sustained run” into action.

Six wide, with nine horses yet to pass, Mind Your Biscuits stormed down the middle of the racetrack. He swept past his first five rivals rivals by midstretch, then tackled the remaining four after the 200-meter mark,  gaining the top spot for the last 100 meters. He drew off to win by approximately three lengths in a final time of 1:10.913 over a muddy track.

Fellow US runner Comicas, who also raced outside, finished second, followed across the line by British competitor Morawhij.

“The post position was way outside,” commented Joel Rosario. “I think I got some ground in the turn, not much, and then for a second I thought we might not get there. But he showed that he was the best horse in the race.”

Screen grab from DRC feedContinued Rosario, “I was so wide on the outside. I was thinking ‘is this is going to work’? But as I said he was the best horse in the race and I’m proud of him. He’d showed us the last couple of times, he ran very well in the Breeders’ Cup and he won the Malibu. It was a very good race in America and every time he runs he improves a little bit more.”

Summers, who appeared astonishingly calm after breaking his training maiden in such a remarkable way, said,  “This is what we planned. It’s a storybook ending to a story. It’s a remarkable horse and it was a remarkable ride. I think he is the best sprinter in the country, in the world. He proved it today. It’s unbelievable. Everything here is first class, it means a lot.”

Despite the muddy track, Mind Your Biscuits, who had been kept in the clear for the length of the race, arrived at the winner’s circle for the celebration with a clean coat

Bred by Jumping Jack Racing LLC and foaled at Sue and Gary Lundy’s Cedar Ridge Farm in Pine Plains, Mind Your Biscuits is one of three winners from three foals to start out of Jazzmane, an unraced Kentucky-bred daughter of Toccet and a half-sister to Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Kimchi (Langfuhr).  The mare has two more reported foals in the US, a 2-year-old filly by Posse and yearling colt by Officer.

Mind Your Biscuits was purchased as a short yearling by Machmer Hall at the 2014 Keeneland January sale. Offered at auction twice more, he RNA’d both times for $47,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale and at last year’s OBS Spring 2-year-old sale, after which Chad Summers, who had previously bought an interest in Mind Your Biscuits with his father and brother, acquired the colt privately on behalf of J Stables. Mind Your Biscuits. Liz Crow of BSW Bloodstock then purchased a minority interest in the colt on behalf of clients Head of Plains Partners and Michael E. Kisber. In 2016 the colt was trained by Robert Falcone Jr.

Mind Your Biscuits’ second career Grade 1 tally and most lucrative score by far, improves his record to five wins, six seconds and a third from 15 starts and brings his earnings to whopping $2,015,166.

Leave a Reply