The 2010 Dubai World Cup, the first World Cup held at colossal Meydan Race Course, offered racing’s first eight-figure purse and was decided by about two inches. We may be in for another close one. Twice Over won the third leg of the Maktoum Challenge here March 3 by almost three lengths, is he clearly better than American champion Gio Ponti, who beat him by more than a length in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic?
It’s been an eventful several days for trainer Mike de Kock. Bold Silvano, among the top older horses in Dubai this winter, was taken out of World Cup consideration last weekend after suffering what was called a minor injury. But de Kock’s bad luck also was de Kock’s good fortune, since Bold Silvano’s defection allowed the de Kock-trained Golden Sword into the World Cup.
The American-based Fly Down drew the rail and Golden Sword post 14 during Wednesday's draw for Saturday night's $10 million Dubai World Cup.
Dubai World Cup contender Gio Ponti did not go fast enough to record a timed workout, but two-minute licked six furlongs Wednesday morning at Meydan, picking up the pace about 1,000 meters before the finish and going out 200 meters past it, according to Christophe Lorieul, assistant to trainer Christophe Clement and Gio Ponti’s rider in Dubai.
Bob Baffert likes to nickname his horses. Real Quiet, for instance, Baffert called The Fish, so narrow was the colt when seen head-on. And Euroears, the horse Baffert has followed to Dubai for Saturday night’s Golden Shaheen? “I call him The Natural,” Baffert said.
It was not mainly for more consistency that Gio Ponti was brought back to race during his 6-year-old season. It was, in great part, to try and finish first in a race like the $10 million Dubai World Cup, which Gio Ponti will try to do Saturday night.
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.
