Azure Coast, Fresu, and Vashchenko team up in UAE Derby

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The horse came from Russia, the jockey from Sardinia, the jockey’s agent from Baltimore. It is quite the unlikely assemblage of personal histories that just might come together and win the $1 million UAE Derby here Saturday.

The horse in question is Azure Coast, who made his career debut last September in Moscow, winning by seven lengths over Suvorov, his Pavel Vashchenko-trained stablemate. You might recognize Vashchenko’s name. His operation in the U.S. is overseen by trainer Gennadi Dorochenko, who is stabled this winter at Fair Grounds. Vashchenko trained in America between 2013 and 2020, though the man himself rarely was seen at the track. The same has been true this winter in Dubai, where Vashchenko sent Azure Coast and Suvorov to race at Meydan. Both are owned by Vladimir Kazakov, for whom Dorochenko once trained dozens of horses.

The 30-year-old Italian jockey Antonio Fresu, spending his sixth winter in Dubai, worked both horses before they raced here. He thought Suvorov felt like the quicker of the pair and chose him for the seven-furlong Mirdif Stakes on Dec. 16. Suvorov finished third while Azure Coast won, but Fresu got on Azure Coast for the colt’s eye-catching two-length win Feb. 11 in the UAE 2000 Guineas, where he beat 12 foes.

“I think he’s a very good horse,” Fresu said Wednesday morning.

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Fresu is having a very good winter – his best in Dubai. His 57 winners this racing season are second only to Tadhg O’Shea’s 64. Fresu has been riding live mounts at the local race meetings and getting on horses of far higher quality during morning training in recent weeks. He has worked Dubai World Cup starter Hot Rod Charlie three times and was aboard the World Cup horse Country Grammer for his recent final World Cup breeze.

Fresu’s connection with the American runners was facilitated by his agent, Michael Adolphson. Adolphson came to Dubai in 2017 to work as a publicity and media director for the Dubai Racing Club, hired by former DRC CEO Frank Gabriel, for whom Adolphson had worked at Arlington Park. Adolphson, a Baltimore native, caught the racing bug early, taken to Pimlico as a tot by his father.

“He was a gambler. I was the youngest of three kids and he’d take us to the track,” he said.

Adolphson, not to the manor born, scraped and clawed his way into a racing career. He left the Dubai Racing Club and this winter got a six-month contract as a broadcaster with Dubai Racing Channel. In January 2021, Fresu, with whom Adolphson had forged a friendship, asked if Adolphson would become his agent.

“I knew he’d never been an agent before, but he knows the form, knows pedigrees, and has really helped me,” Fresu said.

Fresu, from a family of jockeys and horsemen, began riding at age 18, and began to establish himself in Italy. Fresu tried England and was making inroads four years ago when he broke his leg. He still rides under contract during summers in Italy, but Dubai has become his bread and butter. Fresu rode Zenden to victory in the 2021 Golden Shaheen, the jockey’s most important win. Zenden was euthanized after suffering a leg injury after crossing the wire in that race.

Fresu has a live mount in the Golden Shaheen again this year in Meraas. He rides 2021 Godolphin Mile winner Secret Ambition in that race Saturday and, besides Azure Coast, has mounts in three other stakes on the World Cup card.

Azure Coast, by Street Sense out of Divine Rule, by Empire Maker, has the pedigree and physical profile to make the jump from the UAE 2000 Guineas, a one-turn mile, to the UAE Derby, a 1 3/16-mile race around two turns. Regardless of how well he performs, Azure Coast won’t be going to the Kentucky Derby since he’s not Triple Crown-nominated. But Fresu could end up in America. He explored the possibility a couple years ago, obtaining a five-year visa, and is seriously considering a move to California after the 2023 World Cup Carnival.