O'Neill switches Ami Please to dirt in United Arab Emirates Oaks; Nations Pride in Dubai Millenium
Ami Please was winless in three starts in one-mile turf stakes at California tracks in the final months of 2022, finishing second, fourth, and third.
The 3-year-old filly will have her 2023 debut under greatly different circumstances. Ami Please is the lone American-trained runner in Friday’s Group 3 United Arab Emirates Oaks at 1 3/16 miles on dirt at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
On the same program, Nations Pride, fifth as the 5-2 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland in November, will have his 4-year-old debut in the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
A massive change of scenery may aid Ami Please, according to Doug O’Neill, her California-based trainer.
“She’s training well and we’re hoping her turf form can move over to the dirt,” O’Neill said on Wednesday. “The talent is there and the class is there.”
O’Neill said Ami Please’s chance may be boosted by the layout of Meydan, a massive facility in which the stables are a longer-than-normal distance to the track during training hours.
“A lot of horses really let down there,” O’Neill said. “There is a lot of walking to the barn area to the track. There is a lot of calm time. She is a high-energy filly. I’m hopeful it will be a benefit for her.”
Ami Please, a Kentucky-bred filly by Goldencents who will be ridden by Tony Fresu, is part of a field of seven in the $150,000 UAE Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Owned by W.C. Racing and Wonderland Racing, Ami Please is quick enough to set the pace, but has raced as a stalker.
She set the pace when second in her stakes debut in the Pike Place Dancer Stakes at Golden Gate Fields in October, and again when fourth by 2 1/2 lengths in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar on Dec. 3.
In the Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 30, Ami Please stalked the pace and finished third. Manhattan Jungle, who was second in that race, won the $102,500 Sweet Life Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita last Saturday.
In the UAE Oaks, Ami Please will be joined in a forward position by Awasef, who was second to Mimi Kakushi in the UAE 1000 Guineas at a mile on Jan. 20. Awasef, a Kentucky-bred by Cairo Prince, set the pace in the UAE 1000 Guineas and was beaten 4 1/2 lengths.
Mimi Kakushi, a Kentucky-bred by City of Light, is part of the UAE Oaks field and has won her last two starts, beginning with the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial at seven furlongs on Dec. 23. Those are the only two wins in her four-race career, which began with two fourth-place finishes at Meydan in November and December.
The UAE Oaks is the first of three Group 3 races on the seven-race Meydan program. After a stakes for Arabians begins the card, the first of six of Thoroughbred races begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern or 6:30 a.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
The $150,000 Dubai Millennium will be Nations Pride’s first Dubai race since a win in the Jumeriah Derby at 1 1/4 miles on turf last February.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, Nations Pride was later eighth in the Group 1 English Derby last June before an American campaign in his final four starts of the year.
Nations Pride was second in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in July and won consecutive starts in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby in August and the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park in September.
In the BC Turf, Nations Pride closed from 10th in a field of 13 to finish 3 3/4 lengths behind stablemate Rebels Romance.
Nations Pride is part of a field of 12 in the Dubai Millennium, which includes the promising French stakes winner Zagrey and Ottoman Fleet, who was third in two Group 2 races at 1 1/8 miles for Godolphin and Appleby at Meydan on Jan. 13 and Feb. 3.
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The Godolphin-Appleby team have a formidable duo in the $200,000 Nad Al Sheba Trophy at 1 3/4 miles with Kemari and Siskany.
Kemari is winless in eight starts since the Group 2 Queen’s Vase Stakes at 1 3/4 miles at Royal Ascot in Britain in 2021. He was sixth in the Group 3 Legacy Cup Stakes at 1 3/8 miles at Newbury Racecourse in Britain in September.
Siskany was third in the in the Group 1 Preis von Bayern at 1 1/2 miles in Munich, Germany, on Nov. 6, but third in the Wild Flower Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on the all-weather surface at Kempton Park outside of London on Nov. 30.
The Nad Al Sheba Trophy drew a field of 14, including the first three finishers of the Al Khail Trophy at 1 3/4 miles at Meydan on Jan. 20 – Global Heat, Away He Goes, and Arkadan.
Global Heat is one of two runners owned by Godolphin and trained by Saeed bin Suroor.
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