Adaptable Mubtaahij, De Kock Take Unconventional Path to Derby

If it wasn’t for trainer Mike de Kock changing his mind about Mubtaahij’s winter plans, the 3-year-old might be just another maiden in England rather than one of this year’s most talked-about Kentucky Derby contenders.
Mubtaahij had run twice in England as a 2-year-old, finishing five or more lengths behind the winner each time. His connections were disappointed in those performances because he had trained well at home, but Mubtaahij did not live up to that showing when race day rolled around. De Kock attributed the unplaced finishes to his immaturity.
After much discussion, the decision was made to ship Mubtaahij to Dubai for the winter. He flourished in the new environment, and that’s where the second piece of the puzzle came together with Mubtaahij carving a path to the Kentucky Derby.
While Meydan Racecourse has a turf course and offers dozens of races on grass throughout their winter meet, the track does not host any maiden races (races for horses who have never won before) on that course.
Mubtaahij is built more like a European turf horse, and his pedigree suggests he would be prefer racing on grass, but de Kock had no choice but to race him on dirt.
“We only had dirt maidens as options in Dubai. So if I was going to run him, it was only going to be on the dirt,” de Kock said. “Again, that’s just trial and error and pure luck at the end of the day. I’d love to claim that I knew something but I knew nothing.”
Mubtaahij proved to love the dirt, winning his first start on the Meydan main track by three-quarters of a length and putting himself on the road to bigger races on the surface.
“You had to then immediately look at the [United Arab Emirates] Triple Crown,” he said. “The next obvious step was going to be the Guineas Trial, which he went and won as well over seven furlongs. Which, you know, for me was a little short of what I knew he was capable of going. So once he did that, he won the Guineas Trial in a reasonable field one must say, not a very strong field, but he did it in good style with a lot of speed. So you start to get a little excited from there.”
Mubtaahij lost the United Arab Emirates 2,000 Guineas at a mile by a hard-fought head to Maftool, whom he had beaten by more than five lengths in the Guineas Trial. But Mubtaahij more than made up for that head loss in his next two starts.
He faced Uruguayan Triple Crown winner Sir Fever in the 1 3/16-mile Al Bastakiya, the second leg of the UAE Triple Crown. While it was believed that Sir Fever would make a true race of it, Mubtaahij easily overhauled him in midstretch and went on to win by 2 ½ lengths.
2015 AL BASTAKIYA

Finally, it was time for Mubtaahij to get a chance to throw his hat into the Kentucky Derby ring when he ran in the UAE Derby, which awards 100 Kentucky Derby points to the winner.
Mubtaahij faced foreign invaders, including one horse from the United States and a few from Japan, in the UAE Derby. Four horses in front dueled through a torrid pace, setting it up perfectly for Mubtaahij, who showcased his impressive turf of foot when asked to accelerate by jockey Christophe Soumillon. He drew away to win by eight lengths over Maftool.
“I’m not so sure that in the UAE Derby they went a little too quick early on, and that’s why his acceleration possibly is a little flattering,” de Kock said. “The two Japanese horses really took each other on up front, and he was able to relax behind them and really get the perfect trip, let’s face it. He does have acceleration, though, and he does get to 10 furlongs, and he does run hard to the line. So, he does have acceleration, yes. It may have been a little flattering in the UAE Derby given that the speed was a little crazy upfront.”
MUBTAAHIJ WINNING THE UAE DERBY

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
After his win Mubtaahij was immediately confirmed for the Kentucky Derby, becoming the third horse since 2010 to win the UAE Derby and go on to compete in the Kentucky Derby.
But since then, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Mubtaahij to get to Louisville.
His usual feed isn’t registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so he had to change to a different feed while in the United States. De Kock believes that is the most significant challenge to traveling, since changing feed is a significant change for a horse, especially before competing in a major race.
Another issue the horse has faced is the change in climate. Mubtaahij shipped from Dubai two weeks ago, when it was in the 90-degree range, to Chicago, where it was in the 60s. The colt had to ship to Chicago due to quarantine regulations and stabled at Arlington Park to train on the track’s synthetic Polytrack surface rather than shipping to a Kentucky training center as originally planned.
For de Kock, giving the horse some time to recover from the flight to the U.S. and training on a surface the horse is familiar with outweighed the drawback of training in Chicago, where it was cooler than Louisville.
“I think horses adapt … but for me it was more a surface to work him on, a good, safe surface to work him on. He does all his work in Dubai on [an] all-weather [surface], and I felt that I didn’t want to change that. … I suppose you can’t have it both ways. You can have good weather and maybe not the surface that you’re used to so we had to make some sort of sacrifice, I guess,” he said.
MUBTAAHIJ AT ARLINGTON PARK 

Four Footed Fotos
A major contributing factor to sending Mubtaahij to the Kentucky Derby was his temperament. Mubtaahij does not have the shipping experience some of de Kock’s South African-based horses do, but he has always taken travel in stride.
He eats well and doesn’t seem to be phased by changes, making him a pretty straight-forward training charge for de Kock. The only real challenge Mubtaahij gives de Kock and his staff is that he is eager to train faster than they would like. De Kock and his team have learned how to deal with that.
“I find him pretty straight forward. He can take a bit of a tug during work in the morning because he’s keen and likes to get on with it,” de Kock said. “We tend to try and hold him back in his work more than really let him get to his top. He’s a keen individual, he likes to get on with it.”
Getting Mubtaahij to this point has been a learning experience for de Kock, who is entering his first starter in the Kentucky Derby. He doesn’t feel like his team has anything to lose with Mubtaahij running here, as this is allowing him to see if he needs to change anything in future years should he have another Kentucky Derby hopeful.
“I think I’m going to learn a lot this week, and I’ll learn a hell of a lot on Saturday,” he said. “I think one’s always got to adjust one’s thinking when you’re chasing the big prizes in the world. Certainly, I’m not too old to learn new tricks,” he said.
“To be honest, I am really, really looking forward to whatever happens. I don’t think we’ll lose anything in coming here and gaining the experience that we’re about to gain.”
MUBTAAHIJ TRAINING AT CHURCHILL ON TUESDAY

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
One thing that de Kock is keeping the same for the Kentucky Derby that he acknowledges others might be more likely to change is Mubtaahij’s jockey. Soumillon is one of the best jockeys in the world and rides regularly for de Kock’s stable in the winter.
Soumillon has raced in North America before and has won some of the biggest races on turf on the continent, but he has only ridden a few times on dirt. The trainer holds firm to the belief that Soumillon is part of the team effort that has gotten them to this point and he has de Kock’s confidence.
“I’m sure he’s going to apply just as much as anyone else and he’s a personal friend, and I just don’t want to change that,” de Kock said. “I understand the thinking, sure. I realize that a lot of others may have made the change, but to be brutally honest, as far as we’re concerned, we’re really happy with Christophe.”
De Kock is trying to avoid thinking about what it would be like to win the Kentucky Derby, but he does admit that it would be life changing for him. Like many others, the Kentucky Derby has been a big dream for de Kock and right now he is just soaking up the experience.
“At this stage of the game, being here is a massive privilege, and it’s also something I’ve aspired to do since I was a very young man in this industry,” he said. “Whether the horse is good enough or not, we’ll find out on Saturday, but I certainly don’t like to get ahead of myself at all. I don’t think I’ve experienced as much hype around any race ever in my life.”
DE KOCK (far right) AFTER WINNING GODOLPHIN MILE WITH SOFT FALLING RAIN IN 2013

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
As for Mubtaahij, the colt does not need to win for de Kock to race him in another Triple Crown race. But if he doesn’t fare well in the Derby, de Kock has a backup plan.
“I think if he ran well on Saturday, and when I say ran well I mean if he runs huge, if he’s kicking on and he looks like he’ll go on further as well, we’ll probably go the other two legs,” de Kock said. “If he’s in the mix then we’ll definitely go on. But if he doesn’t go on, we’ll probably put him on ice for a while, take him back to Europe, give him a good rest, go back into Dubai and prep for the World Cup next year.”
So far, a few last-minute plans have set Mubtaahij on a path that could see him help his trainer make history as the first South African trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. For Mubtaahij fans, they hope those choices help him take home the roses on May 2 and, with a lot of luck, see him leaving the United States with a Triple Crown trophy in a little more than five weeks.