11/23/2012 4:33PM

Aqueduct: Point of Entry has Dubai on map

By David Grening
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Barbara D. Livingston
Point of Entry won the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland before his Grade 1 victories in the Man o’ War at Belmont in July, the Sword Dancer at Saratoga in August, and the Joe Hirsch at Belmont in October.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Add Point of Entry to the list of North American-based horses being considered for a race in Dubai in 2013.

Point of Entry, winner of three Grade 1 marathon turf races in 2012 and runner-up to Little Mike in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will run in 2013 with the $5 million Sheema Classic on March 30 on the Dubai World Cup card at Meydan as an early-season objective, according to trainer Shug McGaughey. The Sheema Classic is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

McGaughey said Point of Entry would likely prep for Dubai in the Grade 1, $300,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap at Gulfstream on Feb. 9. That is the same race Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, is pointing to as a prep for the $10 million Dubai World Cup at 1 1/4 miles on synthetic.

McGaughey said the Sheema Classic is enticing because there aren’t any significant turf races in the United States he would run Point of Entry in during that time of year.

“There isn’t really anything until we get to the summer,” said McGaughey, who has never run a horse in Dubai. “He won the Elkhorn, we don’t need to do that again.”

McGaughey was referring to the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland, which Point of Entry won in April before his Grade 1 successes in the Man o’ War at Belmont in July, the Sword Dancer at Saratoga in August, and the Joe Hirsch at Belmont in October.

McGaughey said he would likely target those three Grade 1 races again for Point of Entry as well as the Breeders’ Cup Turf, a race in which Point of Entry was beaten one-half length by Little Mike at Santa Anita.

“I’ll do some research into it, but it’d be something fun to do,” McGaughey said about Dubai. “And it’s a lot of money.”

McGaughey said that since the Breeders’ Cup, Point of Entry was been walking under tack at Belmont. He is scheduled to ship on Monday to Payson Park in Florida and is likely to resume training in about two weeks.