DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Still a 3-year-old on Northern Hemisphere time, Soft Falling Rain was eligible to race in the age-restricted UAE Derby on the Dubai World Cup card, but trainer Mike de Kock chose instead to tackle older horses at a shorter distance, and was rewarded with a three-quarter-length victory in the Group 3, $1 million Godolphin Mile.
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DRF Past Performances
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Monterosso, the defending Dubai World Cup champion, was scratched from this year’s race early Saturday afternoon. No horse has ever won two editions of the $10 million World Cup, a streak that will continue at least until 2014.
Shea Shea looks like a formidable favorite in the $1 million Al Quoz Sprint. Just ask the trainers of his strongest rivals.
“He likes this place, and he’s in good order, but Shea Shea is going to be hard to beat,” said Edward Lynam, the trainer of Sole Power.
“Our horse is now a solid Group 1 horse, but I don’t know if he can beat Shea Shea,” echoed Robert Cowell, the trainer of Spirit Quartz.
Thu, 03/28/2013 - 16:45
Trainer Mike de Kock and Godolphin have six of the 16 entrants in the $1 million Godolphin Mile, though de Kock appears to hold the stronger hand.
De Kock’s first stringer is Soft Falling Rain, a South African import who has won the first six starts of his career, including a pair of stakes at Meydan. What Soft Falling Rain has not done is face older horses, and the competition he faces Saturday is substantially better than what he beat in his local wins.
The Group 3 Dubai Gold Cup came up a soft spot for a $1 million purse, but just getting the horses around the turf course in good order would be an improvement on last year’s edition.
The 2012 Gold Cup was called off midrace after a fallen horse obstructed the course. The race was rerun later that night, and two horses were injured – one fatally – in the second running.
[DUBAI WORLD CUP: Complete DRF coverage, live video from Meydan]
Marcus Hersh and Patrick Cummings update from Meydan on Friday.[bc_video_id:287824:]
Peter Ellis previews the World Cup Card.[bc_video_id:287864:]
Peter Ellis discusses the importance of track position at Meydan.[bc_video_id:287839:]
Mike Beer and Dan Illman preview the Dubai World Cup.[bc_video_id:287809:]
Mike Beer and Dan Illman preview the UAE Derby.[bc_video_id:287820:]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Eight thousand miles is a long way to travel for 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The math works out to about 47 miles per point. Still, the Derby points in great part compelled the connections of He’s Had Enough to ship the colt from California to Dubai for a start Saturday in the Group 2 UAE Derby. Yet another number – $2 million, the UAE Derby’s purse, equal to the Kentucky Derby itself – is another decent reason to show up.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – From the first Dubai World Cup, which Cigar won in 1996, Americans became accustomed to leaving this strange city in the desert with chests puffed out. These days, they depart with tails between legs.
An American-based horse won nine of the 14 World Cups at the old Nad Al Sheba dirt track. Since the 2010 move to Meydan Racecourse, which employs an all-weather Tapeta racing surface, no American horse has finished among the top three in the World Cup, and only one U.S. runner has won any of the races on the World Cup card.
Thu, 03/28/2013 - 13:38
The $5 million Sheema Classic over about 1 1/2 miles on turf Saturday at Meydan Racecourse lacks the depth of the Duty Free, but it has Gentildonna, the star Japanese filly who swept the Japanese Fillies Triple Crown and won the Japan Cup over males and older rivals late last year.
A winner in 7 of her 9 starts, Gentildonna has won at distances from one mile to 1 1/2 miles, but the conditions of the Sheema Classic probably suit her best.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – When the racing people in Dubai laid out a grand vision for the Dubai World Cup meeting, a race like this year’s $5 million Duty Free could have been the blueprint. The field contains 10 Group 1 or Grade 1 winners, horses bred in nine different countries. Their major wins have come in the United States, England, France, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and Dubai. There are 14 horses in the Duty Free, a turf race over about 1 1/8 miles. It should be a battle royal. Almost any of them can win.