Safety Check did not pan out during the 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival as a 3-year-old hope for the all-weather UAE Derby, a race in which he finished 10th, but things are rolling along much more smoothly for Safety Check on the Meydan turf course this winter. A sharp winner of a turf handicap on Jan. 8, Safety Check improved on that form Thursday and won the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort by four lengths.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
Ace South African trainer Mike de Kock has a three-headed monster ready to attack Thursday night at Meydan in the featured sixth race, the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort over about seven furlongs on turf.
The de Kock-trained winner of the 2014 Al Fahidi Fort, Anaerobio, is back for a repeat bid Thursday, and de Kock also sends out the South African import Red Ray for his Dubai debut. De Kock’s third horse is Zahee, whose form is somewhat clouded by a poor run last out over the new Meydan dirt track.
Team Valor issued a news release Tuesday morning announcing that Beverly D. winner Euro Charline will be aimed at the $6 million Dubai Turf (formerly known as the Dubai Duty Free) on the March 28 Dubai World Cup card.
Euro Charline, 4, hasn't raced since she won the Aug. 16 Beverly D. at Arlington. Subsequently turned over from trainer Marco Botti to Todd Pletcher, Euro Charline underwent surgery on an injured hind ankle before she could race again in the United States and was sent back to Botti in England this past fall.
The 9-year-old gelding Reynaldothewizard won for the first time in nearly two years in Thursday’s $150,000 Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, a performance that could lead to a start in the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters on March 28.
Reynaldothewizard won the 2013 Golden Shaheen but was winless in three starts in the United Arab Emirates in 2014. Reynaldothewizard was fourth in the 2014 Golden Shaheen.
United Color and Reynaldothewizard, third and fourth in the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint last March, meet for the first time since that race in Thursday’s $150,000 Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
The Dubawi Stakes is the top race on a seven-race program at Meydan that includes two $75,000 races over seven furlongs on the main track that serve as trials for the United Arab Emirates 1000 and 2000 Guineas in coming weeks.
The British all-weather circuit will expand on Sunday with the resumption of racing at Chelmsford City racecourse east of London, a facility formerly known as Great Leighs.
The track opened in April 2008, but racing ceased in January 2009 after the track lost its license to race because of financial difficulties.
The racecourse, which has a Polytrack synthetic surface, has been renamed under new ownership and will offer 58 days of racing in 2015. The new owners include Fred Done, the owner of the BetFred bookmaking chain and the operator of the British tote system.
Surfer confirmed his fondness for the new dirt track at Meydan Racecourse with a 2 1/4-length win over Frankyfourfingers in Round 1 of the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge on Thursday's opening of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
The 6-year-old Surfer, an American-bred son of Distorted Humor trained by Satish Seemar, is spending his fourth winter racing in Dubai, but for the first three of those campaigns, his starts at Meydan came over the track’s original all-weather racing surface, and Surfer appears to prefer dirt.
Dubai Racing: Get PPs, watch live, and wager on the Dubai World Cup Carnival »
2015 Racing Dates: Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb. 12, Feb. 19, Feb. 26, Feb. 28, March 7, March 28 (Dubai World Cup).
Post Times: 9:30 a.m. ET; March 28 (Dubai World Cup), 7:30 a.m. ET
Gentildonna, the winner of consecutive runnings of the Japan Cup in 2012 and 2013, ended her career with a victory in Sunday’s $3,456,584 Arima Kinen Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse, the last major race of the year in the Far East.
Gentildonna, a 5-year-old Japanese-bred mare by Deep Impact, closed from third in a field of 16 to win the race over 1 9/16 miles on turf by three-quarters of a length over the 3-year-old colt To the World, a 30-1 shot. Gentildonna was the 7-1 fourth choice in the field and was ridden by Keita Tosaki for trainer Sei Ishizaka.