Dubai: Godolphin has two good shots at UAE 1000 Guineas at Meydan

Godolphin and trainer Mahmood al Zarooni have a firm grip on the UAE 1000 Guineas, the featured race on Friday night’s card at Meydan. Their A Team for the Guineas is Gamilati, the mount of Frankie Dettori, but the al Zarooni-trained Pimpernel might not be all that far behind Gamilati, the likely Guineas favorite.

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All told, seven fillies were entered in the UAE Guineas, a listed race with a purse of about $154,000 that’s contested over a one-turn mile on Meydan’s Tapeta main track. Gamilati, an American-bred daughter of Bernardini, has already had a run under similar conditions, capturing the Jan. 6 Guineas Trial by almost three lengths. Gamilati has 2-year-old credentials to back up her recent Dubai performance: Though she ended her 2011 campaign with a poor performance in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York in England, Gamilati won the Group 2 Cherry Hinton at Newmarket, a race in which Shumoos, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint runner-up, finished second.

Gamilati never has raced beyond seven furlongs, and in her stablemate Pimpernel she faces a stronger rival than anything she beat last month at Meydan. Pimpernel hasn’t started since Oct. 22, but she had a very solid 2-year-old season in England, with four wins, two seconds and a third in seven starts. Her lone try in group competition produced a second-place finish in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket, a race in which Alsindi, the Guineas trial runner-up, finished last of nine.

Also on the Friday program at Meydan is the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint, an early trial for the Golden Shaheen on World Cup Night.