Arklow Takes on Three Brown Trainees in United Nations

As he did in 2020, Arklow  makes an appearance this summer at Monmouth Park in the United Nations Stakes (G1T). It is his preparation that differs this year for the July 17 race.

Last July, after the Arch  horse had run sixth in the TVG Elkorn Stakes (G2T) during a week-long summer meet at Keeneland, trainer Brad Cox returned Arklow on less than a week's rest to compete in New Jersey. Sent off as the 6-5 public choice in the 1 3/8-mile turf contest, Arklow was slow to get in gear and mustered only a fourth-place finish.

This year brings more typical Cox preparation—with Arklow fresh for Saturday's $500,000 race after winning the Louisville Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs May 15 in the 7-year-old's seasonal debut.

"He did run in the U.N. last year. I don't know if it was one of the worst trainer moves I ever made—I ran him back in six days off the Keeneland race," reflected Cox, the Eclipse Award-winning trainer of 2020. "We had a little bit of an odd schedule last year. You know, look, he ran fourth in it as the favorite. It couldn't have been too bad a spot as the favorite.

"After that, we put the blinkers on him. It really seemed to wake him up. He's only been beaten in the Breeders' Cup since."

The Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger, and Estate of Peter Coneway-owned runner figures to be a force Saturday. The veteran campaigner faces a trio of Chad Brown trainees in Master Piece , Serve the King , and Tribhuvan —plus six other rivals.

None of those foes, however, can match Arklow's $2.7 million bankroll. The son of Arch has won graded stakes five years in a row, including the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) in 2019.

Arklow carries jockey Florent Geroux and co-highweight of 124 pounds on Saturday, spotting most of the opposition weight. He breaks from the rail.

Tribhuvan (Toronado ) also carries 124 pounds, having won the Fort Marcy Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park May 1. But it was his follow-up loss after that victory that was likely his best career performance.

Allowed to run freely on the lead with hot fractions in the 1 1/4-mile Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T) at Belmont, he outlasted all of his rivals except Domestic Spending , North America's top-rated turf horse in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings.

Flavien Prat, aboard Domestic Spending in the Manhattan, picks up the ride on the outside-drawn Tribhuvan, owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso.

Another who ran in the Manhattan for Brown was Master Piece, who finished sixth for owners Fernando Diaz-Valdes Stable, Baalbek Corp., and Don Alberto Stable. A group 2 winner in Chile, he won an allowance at Keeneland this spring between a fourth-place finish in last fall's Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and the Manhattan.

Brown's remaining entrant, Peter Brant's Serve the King, was fourth in his lone start this year in the Monmouth Stakes (G3T) June 5. 

Brown has won the U.N. three times, with his first coming in 2013.

Other U.N. threats include Fantasioso , Winters Back , and Glynn County .

The U.N. precedes the $1 million TVG Haskell Stakes (G1) on Monmouth's Saturday card as the 11th race at 5:12 p.m. ET.