A Case of You storms to upset victory in Al Quoz
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Irish trainer Ado McGuinness hatched a three-race winter and spring plan for his fine turf sprinter A Case of You, who delivered a rousing 1 1/4-length victory Saturday at Meydan Racecourse in the Group 1, $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint.
Following a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, where Del Mar’s relatively sharp turn, little known in European turf sprints, got the colt farther back than usual, McGuinness gave A Case of You a freshening. He used a Feb. 11 all-weather track start at Dundalk, which A Case of You easily won, as a bridge to Dubai, and was unconcerned when A Case of You finished second, beaten nearly five lengths by Man of Promise in the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint on March 5. The Al Quoz marked the center of the target; trainer and horse hit it Saturday.
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Jockey Ronan Wheeler, winning his first race in Dubai, did not actually have a difficult task in the Al Quoz, run over a straight six furlongs. Everyone in these races wants to get as close to the outside rail as they can, and A Case of You broke from the outside gate in a 16-horse field. Wheeler steered right to find the stand’s side rail after a quarter mile and never had to leave it.
The American horse Get Smokin broke sharply to take early lead in the middle of the capacious Meydan grass course, but soon was supplanted by Lauda Sion. Soon the action moved to the far outside, where A Case of You, never far from the front, really began bearing down with 400 meters to run. A Case of You, by Hot Streak out of Karjera, by Key of Luck, is on the small side, a compact model well put together with plenty of heart. This time, he and Wheeler took the fight to Man of Promise, the odds-on favorite, who ran with the eventual winner for a half-furlong as the two separated themselves but drifted slightly left and in the end proved no match for A Case of You.
Happy Romance rallied for third with Creative Force, Man of Promise’s Godolphin-owned, Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate, just fourth in front of a solid run from the American horse Casa Creed. A Case of You clocked a strong 1:08.81 for the 1,200 meters over good ground and was a remarkable overlay on the international tote, paying $35.60 to win.
“He’s just a good, good horse,” McGuinness said.
A Case of You, owned by Gary Devlin, now has won seven times from 14 starts. The major European sprint races come later in the year and a little break would seem natural for the colt. McGuinness said earlier this week he’s eager to bring A Case of You back to America for another Breeders’ Cup try, this time at Keeneland.