Haafaguinea, a 6-year-old gelding who has won three of his last four starts, will start in a group stakes for the first time in his career in Thursday’s $200,000 Dubai Millennium Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.
The Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes is run at 2,000 meters, or about 1 1/4 miles, on turf, and has drawn a field of 10.
California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, recorded his third workout in less than two weeks at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Friday, working seven furlongs in 1:24.40. The workout ahead of a $150,000 handicap on Feb. 25 has left trainer Art Sherman somewhat surprised by the 5-year-old’s energy.
“I didn’t realize he’d train like he is over there,” Sherman said. “He’s changed into a big, strong horse that wants to beat you. Now, we need some racing luck.”
There were two Group 3 races on the seven-race card at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday night in Dubai, but the horse that grabbed the most attention was Polar River, who blasted home a 13-length winner of the listed UAE 1000 Guineas.
According to a ruling on the Japan Racing Association website, jockey Luis Contreras has been suspended in Japan after testing positive for the painkiller oxycodone on Feb. 6.
Contreras had been granted a short-term license to ride in Japan from Jan. 5 to Feb. 29 and had won two races there.
Contreras, a 29-year-old native of Mexico, was Woodbine’s leading rider from 2011-13 and ranked second in the Woodbine standings in 2014-15. He was voted the Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding jockey in 2011-12.
From start to finish there are interesting horses in the seven races on the Thursday night World Cup Carnival card at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
Race 1, the UAE 1000 Guineas, brings out Polar River, the promising filly who has started her career with two dirt wins and could be considered for the Kentucky Oaks. Race 7 is a turf handicap over about nine furlongs of no awesome quality, but among its entrants is Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul, who makes his Dubai debut.
California Chrome worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Friday, preparing for his first of two starts in that country on Feb. 25.
Trainer Art Sherman said at Santa Anita on Saturday that California Chrome galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.40 in his Friday workout. Art Sherman’s son and assistant trainer, Alan, is with California Chrome in Dubai overseeing training.
“He said Chrome’s doing amazing,” Art Sherman said of his conversation with Alan.
Two hopefuls for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26 are scheduled to start Thursday night at Meydan, but not in the same race. Frosted, winner of the Grade 1 Wood and the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, and most recently seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, starts in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2, while Mubtaahij, last seen finishing fourth behind second-place Frosted in the Belmont Stakes, races in the Group 3, $200,000 Firebreak Stakes.
While California Chrome is in Dubai training toward a prep race for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26, World Cup hopeful Frosted is getting right down to the business of racing. Frosted and four other Kiaran McLaughlin-trained horses arrived in Dubai from the U.S. on Jan. 24, and four of them – Frosted included – are slated to race on the Thursday card at Meydan Racecourse.
California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, worked a half-mile in 48 seconds at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Sunday, his first workout since arriving in the country on Jan. 22 for a two-race campaign in coming months.
Ridden by regular exercise rider Dihigi Gladney, California Chrome galloped out six furlongs in 1:13, according to Alan Sherman, assistant trainer to his father, Art Sherman. Alan Sherman has been in Dubai since California Chrome’s arrival on Jan. 22.
It was Mike de Kock night on Thursday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where de Kock won three races, finished one-two-three in a $120,000 handicap, and ran one-two-four in the featured Group 2, $200,000 Al Rashidiya Stakes, which de Kock won for the eighth time.
De Kock’s Thursday night success might have legs, too, as his first two home in the Al Rashidiya, Forries Waltz and Ertijaal, appear to have bright futures.
