The devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 continues to play havoc with the Japanese racing schedule. On Tuesday, the Japan Racing Association announced that all April meetings at Nakayama, east of Tokyo, and at Fukushima, the track nearest to the quake epicenter, have been canceled.
Gitano Hernando, the 2009 winner of Santa Anita’s Goodwood Stakes and one of 14 entries in Saturday’s $10 million Dubai World Cup, has been sold by Team Valor and Gary Barber to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for what is believed to be $4 million.
Deep fields and a number of principals trying to win multi-million dollar races off long layoffs at Meydan on Saturday night will make for a number of intriguing betting contests on the Dubai World Cup card.
Turmoil struck the run-up to Dubai World Cup Night over the weekend when two of the most highly regarded horses on the card, Bold Silvano and Snow Fairy, were withdrawn from their respective races.
Polytechnicien proved a comfortable 2.20-1 winner of the Group 3, $111,000 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on Saturday. The 5-year-old son of Royal Academy came from just off the pace to defeat the 5-2 Cirrus des Aigles by a half-length under Olivier Peslier, clocking 2:10.50 for the 1 1/4 miles on soft ground.
Long Run confirmed 7-2 favoritism to land a thrilling renewal of the $807,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, defeating three previous winners of steeplechasing’s most coveted prize in the process.
The Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud on Saturday, at $111,000 and 1 1/4 miles the first group race of the European season, has attracted a highly competive field of nine.
All 13 American-based horses running on Dubai World Cup Night, March 26, arrived safely in Dubai on Wednesday night.
Three former winners of the $804,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase will line up for Friday’s 3 5/16-mile renewal, but the baton could pass to the young and improving Long Run, like so many of England’s best jumpers, a French-bred originally trained in France.
There will be 14 American-trained horses, led by Gio Ponti, running on Dubai World Cup Night at Meydan on March 26 with at least one American in each of the seven Thoroughbred races on the $26 million card.
