Dubai: Miqyaas scores 40-1 upset in Blue Point Sprint

Miqyaas posted a 40-1 upset in the Blue Point Sprint and the Doug O’Neill-trained, Calumet Farm-owned Tall Boy won the UAE 2000 Guineas on Friday at Meydan Racecourse.

Miqyaas won a three-horse photo over Ladies Church and Logo Hunter in the Blue Point Sprint, a 1,000-meter straight-course turf dash, paying $82.40 on the American tote. The 8-year-old gelding, trained by Rashed Bouresly, made his first three starts during the winter of 2019-20, didn’t race at all in 2021, and this past Dec. 24 scored the second win of his career in a low-level handicap at Sharjah. Switched from dirt to turf, Miqyass took a considerable step forward Feb. 5 at Meydan, winning a 1,200-meter turf sprint by 2 1/2 lengths, but that wasn’t enough to make him more than a deep longshot Friday.

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What’s more, Miqyaas had to run hard every step of the Blue Point to narrowly prevail under jockey Oscar Chavez. Leading clearly through the first 200 meters, the gelding appeared to be fading midway through the race, but surged again the final half-furlong and got his nose down just in front of Ladies Church.

One race later, the UAE 2000 Guineas turned into a North American-focused affair, with Tall Boy, coming off a fourth-place finish in the Los Alamitos Futurity, providing O’Neill with his first winner at the 2023 World Cup Carnival. With William Buick in the irons, Tall Boy got a comfortable outside stalking trip in this one-turn, 1,600-meter dirt contest, and by the head of the homestretch the race was down to him and Shirl’s Bee, an American homebred owned by Charles Fipke. Tall Boy edged clear and won by a length, putting himself in the picture for the UAE Derby in March. Tall Boy ($12.60) is by Lookin At Lucky out of Madam Mayra, by Scat Daddy.

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