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If ever the worn-out cliché of not getting old but getting better could be applied to a horse, it would be Arklow.
Arch’s son is now seven years old and has won $ 2,750,746 in a 32-race career stretching back to 2016. Even more impressive, he has won a high-stakes race in each of the past five years. .
He became a 1st year winner of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in the fall of 2019 and now, almost two years later, he will be among the favorites at Monmouth Park for the 1st year on Saturday, United Nations’ $ 500,000. Stakes, the supporting feature on the TVG.com 14- run Haskell Stakes.
The United Nations will be contested a mile and three eighths away on the grass, where Arklow excels.
“Winning graduated stakes five years in a row is a remarkable thing,†said Brad Cox, Eclipse Award-winning coach, who saddled Arklow before his last Louisville Stakes Grade 3 win at Churchill Downs in his only start in 2021. “I think it’s a matter of pedigree. It’s an Arch. He felt like a horse that would always improve with age.
Owned by Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and the estate of Peter Coneway, Arklow is back for a second consecutive victory at the United Nations. Sent off as the 13-10 favorite in 2020, he finished fourth. Afterward, Cox added blinders and Arklow posed for the winner’s circle photos in three of his next four contests, all ranked, including the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar in the last race of his campaign. 2020.
“He’s really come a long way since we added the blinders,†Cox said. “His only loss with them came in the Breeders’ Cup. The turn signals seem to have lifted his head and keep him mentally in the race. I’ve always said I hate putting blinders on a horse that’s made a few million bucks, but once we did, he hit the mark.
The horse’s only loss in those four races after the equipment change was a sixth place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf in November.
“We give him time off,” Cox said of Arklow’s longevity and success. “It had been a pretty long year and then he took a break. I think that plays a big role. The owners of this horse are always ready to give it time. Once he has done so much, he is entitled to a few vacation. He rewarded them by remaining steadfast.
Another amazing thing about Arklow is that he has remained as strong and strong-willed as a young colt.
“We are seeing all the signs that he still enjoys doing it,” said assistant coach Blake Cox, who oversees the five-horse contingent, including Mandoloun, whom the team will lead in the five ranked stakes on the Haskell Stakes map. of Saturday. “He does so many things after the wire and that’s how he does it. It’s a mile-and-a-half horse and it’s a chopper. It picks up every pole and you can’t even pull it. It’s crazy. It tells you when it’s ready.
Arklow did the last of his serious work for the United Nations at Monmouth Park on July 11 in a four-meter breeze and has been training ever since. On Thursday he was on the track for a routine morning gallop, made his way to the gate and backed up, then visited the paddock for a lesson.
“You don’t see horses like this anymore,†said Blake Cox, Brad Cox’s son and assistant. “He manages everything that is thrown at him. He’s a tough horse, there’s no doubt about it. I think he likes to give in the ground a bit. I really do. It can rain as much as he wants or not, and it will be fine.
Horse Relations will be present on Saturday, cheering on their Iron Horse.
“Winning the United Nations would mean a lot to everyone. He already has a grade 1 and we would like to get another one for him, â€said Blake Cox. “If all goes well, I really think he can do the job.”
It will be a busy and potentially lucrative day for the Cox team on Saturday. In addition to Arlow in the Grade 1 United Nations and Kentucky Derby finalist Mandaloun in Grade 1 Haskell, they send the Grade 1 winner and Juliette Foxtrot of Juddmonte Farms into the Grade 3 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes, the Grade winner 2 Vault in the 3rd year Molly Pitcher Stakes, and the 3rd year Night Ops winner in the 3rd year Monmouth Cup Stakes.
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