There is no winner's circle photo featuring Mr Fisk and his entourage following his victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1) May 27. The son of Arrogate was instead being tended to by a veterinary team and being transported off the track in an equine ambulance. Minus the winner, there were a few strained smiles for the camera, but no joy.
Mr Fisk was diagnosed with a condylar fracture, a common, repairable injury but a blow not only to his owner, Sunny Brook Stables, but also to a cast of characters among older horses of 2024 that was just beginning to take interesting shape.
Since there is no clear leader among the 3-year-olds of 2024, a lonely nation's eyes must turn to mature Thoroughbreds for satisfying entertainment. So far, that has been a difficult challenge. The wealth has been spread far and wide, with no fewer than 21 different horses winning the 25 graded races offered so far under the category "3UP R D" on the graded stakes list compiled by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
We will know more after the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) June 29 at Churchill Downs, when either First Mission or Skippylongstocking can be first in the division to win three graded races this year. Mr Fisk joined the two-time winners with his Gold Cup score, alongside his stablemate, National Treasure.
The rest of the roll call is frustrating.
Kingsbarns appeared on his way to the top of the heap after his dazzling race in the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. But that bounce heard in Baltimore May 17 was the son of Uncle Mo getting caught by the steadily improving Pyrenees in the Pimlico Special Stakes (G3). Both of them will challenge First Mission and "Skippy" in the Foster.
Red Route One promised similar excitement based on his sweeping move to win the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) in March. His style has come up short in two subsequent starts, however, prompting Steve Asmussen to plug in stablemate Disarm for the Foster.
Saudi Crown seemed destined to for a good year after romping in the Louisiana Stakes (G2) in January, only to have that momentum squandered with losses in Saudi Arabia and Dubai. The good news is that the son of Always Dreaming has returned to training and logged three works since June 14. His comeback race will be determined by First Mission's trainer, Brad Cox.
Three other globetrotters—Senor Buscador, Newgate, and Two Rivers Over—are in various stages of recovery following their Middle Eastern adventures.
After winning the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) and finishing up the track in the Dubai World Cup (G1), Newgate has yet to return to the work tab for Bob Baffert. Senor Buscador, winner of the Saudi Cup (G1) and third in the World Cup, is up to a half-mile breeze at San Luis Rey Downs for Todd Fincher. As for Two Rivers Over, the surprise winner of the Godolphin Mile (G2), he might have been back in the mix by now if he had not been hit with an eye infection that required a stay of several weeks in a Southern California clinic.
"He's back at Santa Anita now and training well," said Doug O'Neill of Two Rivers Over, a $30,000 claim last year at Ellis Park. "We're not in any hurry with him. I'm thinking he may be a couple weeks from his first work back from the eye issue."
The various rankings that undertake the thankless task of quantifying the unquantifiable seem to be in lockstep singling out National Treasure as the leading older dirt horse in North America.
He is on top by many lengths in the weekly poll conducted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, with Senor Buscador—narrowly beaten by National Treasure in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1)—a distant second. In the Global Horse Rankings compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, National Treasure is the only dirt horse among the top dozen names, surrounded by such turf stars as Romantic Warrior, Rebel's Romance, City of Troy, and a collection of runners doing land office business in Australia and New Zealand.
Then there is the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, which tends to identify the horse with the single best performance over a period of time and then keeps that horse on top for a curiously long duration. In its most recent publication, the Longines list has National Treasure and Senor Buscador tied at fourth with three others, but they are not the top dogs on dirt. That would be Laurel River, winner of the Dubai World Cup, with a rating of 128, five pounds higher than Epsom Derby (G1) winner City of Troy and Dubai Sheema Classic (G1T) winner Rebel's Romance.
Laurel River, a Juddmonte Farms homebred, has not raced since the March 30 World Cup. He is currently "summering" in Dubai with the horses trained by Bhupat Seemar, and there is little or no chance the son of Into Mischief ever will be seen outside the United Arab Emirates.
"There's not much they can do out there under 120-degree heat," said Garrett O'Rourke, who runs the Juddmonte operation in Kentucky. "So he's taking a break on through July and August, then should start back at the beginning of their racing season later in the year."
Not to argue with success, but it seems like an awful waste of a superior talent to keep the World Cup winner squirreled away in his luxurious desert digs, far from the international stage, especially since he already spent time in the North American spotlight.
Laurel River raced seven times for Baffert and Juddmonte in California between ages 2 and 4, with brilliant efforts punctuated by layoffs that suggested physical issues were keeping him from fulfilling his destiny. When he finally broke through with a victory in the Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) at Del Mar in September 2022, Laurel River appeared to be on his way to stardom. But then he was a controversial vet scratch from the field for the 2022 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland, and that was the last time he made headlines—until the World Cup, nearly 18 months later.
Laurel River had a series of works during 2023 for the Baffert stable, with the hopes he might make the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park. Instead, he was sent home to Kentucky, where he entered quarantine and then shipped out to Seemar in Dubai. After two prep races in early 2024 at Meydan, he won the World Cup by 8 1/2 lengths at odds of 9-to-1 in the international pool.
Laurel River is still a stallion and will be 7 in 2025.
"It's a shame he didn't get a chance to strut his stuff in a Breeders' Cup," O'Rourke said. "Still, there's something to be said for a season of just four months like they have in Dubai. There's a reason they have so many 7-, 8-, 9-year-olds still racing there. I presume when he goes back to training he'll be on a similar schedule that got him to the World Cup this year."
