Kinsale King will prep for Dubai up north

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Carl O'Callaghan is using two California racetracks to prepare his sprint star Kinsale King for the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint in Dubai on March 27.

O'Callaghan plans to work Kinsale King at Hollywood Park on Sunday and then ship the 5-year-old gelding to Golden Gate Fields for a month. Golden Gate Fields has a Tapeta surface, the same synthetic material in place at the new Meydan racecourse in Dubai where the Golden Shaheen will be run.

O'Callaghan plans to give Kinsale King four workouts over the next month at Golden Gate Fields before shipping to Dubai in mid-March.

"I think it's the right thing to do," he said. "It can't hurt for sure."

O'Callaghan said that Kinsale King will be among seven horses sent to Golden Gate Fields. He will keep 15 to 20 horses in Southern California.

Owned by Patrick Sheehy, Kinsale King has won 4 of 7 starts and $207,080, including his last three starts. The winning streak includes the Grade 3 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park in December and the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap over six furlongs at Santa Anita on Jan. 23.

"He's come out of this last race much better than he came out of the Underwood," O'Callaghan said.