2014: two-year-old season Frosted first ran on August 23 in a 6-furlong maiden special weight race at
Saratoga. He broke slowly and raced at the back of the pack, then made a 4-wide move around the turn to finish second. On September 20 at Belmont Park, he was closer to the pace but again finished second after shying at the whip in the stretch. In his third start on October 20 at Aqueduct, he pressed the pace, then drew away in the stretch to win easily. He finished his two-year-old campaign on November 29 in the
Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. He pressed the pace while racing wide, then dueled the leader down the stretch to come up just short.
2015: three-year-old season Frosted started his three-year-old campaign on January 24 in the
Holy Bull Stakes at
Gulfstream Park. He was bumped at the start, then stalked the pace from the inside. He made a run coming into the stretch but could not make up ground on the winner, Upstart, being "clearly second best" according to the chart. Frosted was entered in the
Wood Memorial on April 4 at Aqueduct, the track at which he had broken his maiden back in October. Frosted responded with a victory despite racing wide around the final turn. "We went wide, but he was out of trouble and in the clear," said McLaughlin. "It was a very good race. I don't care how he did it; to get here first was most important in this race." In the
2015 Kentucky Derby, Frosted was the 5th betting choice in a field of 18. He broke poorly and was rank for the first quarter mile before settling near the back of the pack. He started to make up ground down the backstretch, raced very wide around the far turn, and closed steadily down the stretch to finish fourth, just over 3 lengths behind winner
American Pharoah and a neck behind Firing Line and Dortmund for fourth. Frosted raced in third for the first mile and went wide around both turns. Coming into the stretch, Texas Red, winner of the 2014
Breeders' Cup Juvenile, kicked clear of the field. Frosted closed hard but could not get by, settling for another second. In the
Travers Stakes, Frosted pressed American Pharoah hard, especially from after the first half-mile, when the pace quickened significantly. The horses bumped repeatedly around the turn, and Frosted took a temporary lead. This change from Frosted's previous stalking style was attributed to a rider change less than an hour before the race, when Jose Lezcano replaced an injured Joel Rosario. The unexpected tactics of Lezcano may have been decisive as neither horse had enough energy left after a fast opening mile to withstand the charge of Keen Ice down the stretch. American Pharoah finished second with Frosted in third. On September 19, Frosted traveled to
Parx Racing for the
Pennsylvania Derby. Facing a field of 9 and with Joel Rosario again up, he returned to his usual tactics, stalking the pace for the first of a mile. Going 3-wide around the final turn, Frosted took the lead coming into the stretch and won under a hand ride. "He's a top horse and the last three out of his last four runs have been against American Pharoah, so it's great he wasn't here and we were able to shine today," McLaughlin said. On October 31, Frosted entered the
Breeders' Cup Classic, facing older horses for the first time and American Pharoah for the last time. Frosted took up his normal stalking position several lengths behind American Pharoah, then started to make his move on the turn. But when trying to go between horses, he was bumped hard into the rail and tailed off, eventually finishing seventh. but Frosted was the favorite in the American simulcast pool. He settled behind a slow pace, then made his move on the turn only to be fanned wide by the pacesetter. Frosted adjusted and drew away to win by 5 lengths in track record time. An international field of twelve horses went to the post on March 25 to contest the
Dubai World Cup.
California Chrome, the 2014
American Horse of the Year, tracked the pace on the outside for about a mile before drawing clear to win. Frosted was stalking a few lengths further back but had no response in the stretch and finished fifth. "The race went well," said his jockey,
William Buick. "We were tracking California Chrome the whole way, but Frosted came off the bridle a little bit early. He wasn't as good today and I'm not sure why." Frosted returned to the United States and was originally set to return to racing in the
Suburban Handicap in early July. He was training well, though, so McLaughlin decided not to wait and entered him in the
Metropolitan Handicap, more popularly known as the Met Mile, run on June 11. Frosted stalked the pace, then made a four-wide move around the turn and burst clear of the field, drawing off to win by lengths while geared down. The winning margin is believed to be the largest in the 132-year history of the race, and the time of 1:32.73 was a stakes record. The Daily Racing Form called it "an absolutely scintillating performance." The win earned Frosted an automatic berth in the
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as part of the
Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" series. On August 6, Frosted entered the mile
Whitney Handicap at Saratoga as the 1-2 favorite against a field of five other horses. He broke well and went to the early lead, joined by Upstart and Noble Bird. The opening fractions were fast, but Frosted was moving comfortably and opened a lead coming into the stretch, winning by two lengths. "I knew he probably went a little too fast — more than normal," said Rosario. "Sometimes he's a little difficult, and you have to let him do what he wants to do, but when I turned for home I knew I had something left because I know the way he likes to run." With the victory, Frosted earned a "Win and You're In" berth for the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic, thus qualifying for two different Breeders' Cup races. Frosted next entered the
Woodward Stakes on September 3, where he was made the 2-5 favorite in a nine horse field. He broke poorly and raced in sixth place for the first half mile, further from the lead than was his custom. He started his move on the far turn but was fanned extremely wide, losing a considerable amount of ground compared to horses running on the rail. Under a hand ride from Rosario, Frosted hit the lead in mid-stretch, only to have
Shaman Ghost and Mubtahiij close ground rapidly in the final furlong. At the wire, four horses were heads apart, with Frosted in third. "It wasn't our day," said McLaughlin. "He had a bad trip and the winner ran big." Rosario was criticized for not riding harder, although McLaughlin defended him by pointing out the horse's longstanding aversion to the whip. McLaughlin also noted that under the allowance conditions of the race, Frosted carried 4 pounds more weight than the winner, Shaman Ghost, and six pounds more than the runner-up, Mubtahiij. Frosted trained up to the
Breeders' Cup, held at Santa Anita on November 5. His connections elected to enter him in the Classic, in which he was ranked behind California Chrome and Arrogate, rather than entering him in the Dirt Mile, for which he would have been the likely favorite based on his performance in the Met Mile. He was bumped at the start and again in the stretch and finished sixth. ==Statistics==