Mubtaahij
Globetrotting Mubtaahij earned himself a nice following among horse lovers in the USA following his exploits in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.
Twitter, especially, was crammed with good wishes after Mubtaahij made the frame in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes and the cartoon below was posted by Mel (@dailyracefunies), and published on Daily Racing Funnies as Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s three-year-old was getting ready to leave US shores on Tuesday.
“Mubtaahij is somewhere between Amsterdam and our stables in Newmarket, UK, now,” Mike de Kock told on Wednesday morning. “We’ll give him a break now, six weeks or so. He’s had a tough campaign and thoroughly deserves a period of rest.”
Mike complimented jockey Irad Ortiz, jr. for his professionalism and good attitude and said: “This is a top class youngster. He will go places.”
“Such class and sportsmanship shown by this whole team! Wish they could stay here forever!” tweeted Lisa Frieze (@LisaF713), one of several similar sentiments expressed on the popular social media platform. “He’ll be back, and with a faster animal,” opined DRF columnist Jay Hovdey (@jayhovdey) in response.
Mike described the Belmont Stakes as an awesome occasion and he was fascinated by the talent and power of Bob Baffert’s superstar, American Pharoah. He had a conversation with Baffert, shared some thoughts and was among the hordes of racing fans to snap a few photos of the now world-famous Triple Crown winner after the race – captured alongside by US editor and writer Frances J Karon (@francesjkaron), who tweeted: “After the race, Mubtaahij trainer @MdkRacing stuck around to record American Pharoah’s winner’s circle celebrations.”
