Mullikin finished second Dec. 7 behind the top-level performer Locked in the Cigar Mile. Making his first start since that race in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Derby Day, Mullikin lost ground while pressing a fast pace, which collapsed in a race dominated by late runners, and held stubbornly for a close fifth.
Was that enough to send Mullikin on to the $1 million Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga? Probably not.
The Met Mile is coming up with a killer field, and Rodolphe Brisset, who trains the 5-year-old for WinStar Farm, is not keen on sending Mullikin into that kind of fight over a distance he believes is a furlong farther than ideal.
“This is why we did the Cigar Mile, to see how he’d perform,” Brisset.
Mullikin’s Cigar Mile was fine, but his 2024 peak came winning the Grade 1 Forego over seven furlongs in late August at Saratoga. That’s the major goal for Mullikin this year, and as of Tuesday, Brisset wasn’t sure how he’d get there.
One possibility is the 6 1/2-furlong True North on June 7 at Saratoga, but Brisset has a second horse possible for that race. World Record, who won the Grade 2 Amsterdam last July at Saratoga by 6 3/4 lengths, made his 4-year-old debut May 1 at Churchill, winning a third-level sprint allowance by 2 1/2 lengths with a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure. WinStar owns World Record in partnership with BBN Racing, and Brisset wants to keep him and Mullikin separated. There’s also the Brad Cox-trained Federal Judge, another sprinter partially owned by WinStar, who’s approaching his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Race choice for World Record is not that simple.
Brisset, a native of France, is baffled about big-race scheduling in America. In a country where dirt speed is king, how is there no six-furlong dirt Grade 1 until the July 26 Bing Crosby at Del Mar? Brisset views World Record as a six-furlong horse, and the Crosby’s his goal, but how he gets World Record to Del Mar and Mullikin to Saratoga remains to be fully decided.
While Mullikin’s unlikely for the Met Mile, Banishing will make his next start there, trainer and part owner David Jacobson said Tuesday.
A troubled start put Banishing much farther off the Churchill Downs Stakes pace than would have been expected, and Banishing came rolling through the homestretch, going from sixth at the furlong grounds to second, beaten a neck, at the wire.
Banishing was making his third start in five weeks and eighth in six months, and had earned triple-digit Beyers in his five previous races. But nothing seems to knock this horse backward.
“We got him over the hump. He’s fit and sound and strong, and now he’s just going to thrive on running,” said Jacobson, who owns 5-year-old Banishing with Lawrence Roman.
Last July, Roman purchased Banishing at auction for $80,000. Making his first start after the sale, Banishing, racing under second-level allowance conditions Aug. 24, bore out badly, was pulled up, and was taken off the Saratoga track in an equine ambulance. He has since gone 5-3-0 from eight starts while earning about $914,000.
◗ Think Big, who added the Grade 2 Turf Sprint last weekend at Churchill to his April victory in the Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland, could make his next start in the $500,000 Jaipur on June 7 at Saratoga. Trained by Michael Stidham for Godolphin, Think Big has earned triple-digit Beyers his last two starts, is 4 for 4 on turf since being switched to that surface over the winter, and has emerged as the leading grass sprinter in North America. Think Big has finished strongly in 5 1/2-furlong contests and, Stidham noted, galloped out far in front last weekend. His connections over the summer might see if the 4-year-old gelding, by Twirling Candy, can get one mile.
◗ A first-level turf allowance, restricted to 3-year-olds, carded over 1 1/16 miles, and open to $125,000 claimers, tops Friday’s nine-race Churchill card. Tomasello will attract plenty of support coming off an easy Keeneland maiden turf route win for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Jose Ortiz.
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