No further plans for Laurel River in 2024

Laurel River made the first seven starts of his career in America and, as he showed winning the Dubai World Cup on Saturday by a record 8 1/2 lengths, is one of the world’s best horses on dirt, the surface where American racing reigns supreme. But do not expect to see Laurel River show up in America again anytime soon.

Laurel River was sent to trainer Bhupat Seemar by owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms last fall with the intention of keeping him in Dubai, Seemar said in a Sunday phone interview, and at this point, there has been no suggestion that plan has changed.

“When I did get the horse, it was more that the horse was going to stay in Dubai, maybe go to Saudi first” for the Saudi Cup on Feb. 24, Seemar said. “We didn’t have enough time to get him ready for that.”

Laurel River hadn’t started since August 2022 when he debuted for Seemar in the Al Shindagha Sprint on Jan. 26, fading off the pace to finish a well-beaten seventh.

“We couldn’t run him in Saudi off that six-furlong race. He’d had a lot of time off, and I didn’t want to be too hard on him to get him ready; he wasn’t that fit and really needed that race,” Seemar said.

Laurel River came back to easily win the one-mile Burj Nahaar on March 2 before his tour de force in the $12 million World Cup, among the flashiest performances put forth in what was the world’s richest race before the advent of the $20 million Saudi Cup.

Laurel River earned a top-class 129 Timeform Rating, which translates to roughly a 114 Beyer Figure, for his World Cup win.

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The 2025 Saudi Cup, in fact, could be the next major goal for Laurel River, who, Seemar said, exited Saturday’s race in good condition. “He came out of it still bouncing, believe it or not.”

Laurel River, unless his course is redirected, won’t start again until he’s a 7-year-old, but Dubai teems with thriving older dirt horses. Seemar, in fact, won the Golden Shaheen on Saturday with 7-year-old Tuz, who also will have a quiet summer before gearing up for the 2025 World Cup Carnival.

“Older horses do very well here. They get plenty of time off. He’ll get several months off and freshen up,” Seemar said.

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