Arrogate has come out of his second place finish in Saturday's Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar in good order and trainer Bob Baffert is sticking with his plan to go to the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Arrogate was beaten half a length by stablemate Collected in the $US1 million Pacific Classic (1m2f) as an odds-on favourite and Baffert told the BloodHorse both horses came out of the race unscathed.
"They look good. They came out of their races well and that's important," Baffert said.
"We watched the races a few times, and Collected still won. I liked that Arrogate - even though he was running in spurts - I liked that he laid it down in the last eighth of a mile, he showed some willingness, and tried to win."
The Del Mar track is closed for training from September 8 and will reopen on October 23 ahead of the Breeders' Cup meeting on November 3 and 4.
Collected is likely to run in the Grade I Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on September 30 but Baffert said he would prefer to allow Arrogate more practice on the Del Mar surface.
"It's too bad they couldn't just stay here and train until the Breeders' Cup," Baffert said. "That would've been a perfect scenario.
"Collected really likes it down here, you can keep him in an (outdoor) pen, and he flourishes down here. And it would give Arrogate a chance to still get used to this (main track)."
Arrogate currently heads the IFHA list of World Rankings on 134 ahead of Winx on 132. The next set of rankings will be released on September 14.
