The so-called Super Saturday card at Meydan lives up to its name this year, with excellent horses scattered across seven fascinating and competitive Thoroughbred stakes. But there is very large wrinkle in the proceedings: The Dubai World Cup card, with its enormous purses and prestige, looms on March 30, and no one with a truly top-class runner wants them peaking now.
[DUBAI SUPER SATURDAY: Get PPs, watch Saturday's Meydan card live]
Green Moon, the winner of the Melbourne Cup in November, makes his second start of 2013 in Saturday’s $1,020,000 Australian Cup at Flemington Racecourse, site of his Melbourne Cup win.
Green Moon, a 6-year-old Irish-bred horse by Montjeu, drew post 9 in a field of 13 in the Group 1 Australian Cup, which is run over about 1 1/4 miles. Trained by Robert Hickmott, Green Moon has had one start this year, finishing fourth of 10 in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes for older horses over about seven furlongs at Caulfield on Feb. 23.
For the first time since Curlin ran in the Jaguar Trophy Handicap on Feb. 28, 2008, major American horses will be racing in Dubai in advance of the Dubai World Cup program.
Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Little Mike and Pacific Classic winner Dullahan, both trained by Dale Romans, arrived in Dubai last weekend after shipping from Florida, and both horses will see action Saturday night at Meydan during an excellent renewal of the Super Saturday card, which is part of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
Trade Storm was little known when he arrived in Dubai for the Winter Carnival, but he is making a name for himself at Meydan, and an excellent win Saturday in the Group 2, $250,000 Zabeel Mile suggested Trade Storm might have a say in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free on World Cup Night.
Ferlax, a 16-1 outsider who was unbeaten in three starts at minor racecourses, pulled an upset in Saturday’s $515,000 Australian Guineas at Flemington Racecourse.
But the race did not live up to expectations after All Too Hard, a half-brother to the unbeaten star sprinter Black Caviar, was scratched because of an elevated temperature.
The revolving door of winning Godolphin 3-year-old fillies continued swinging Thursday night as Shuruq scored a four-length win in the Group 3, $250,000 UAE Oaks.
[DUBAI CARNIVAL: Get PPs, watch replays, and wager with DRF Bets]
The appropriate response to a horse that comes out of nowhere with a scintillating performance is skepticism. Let the horse duplicate his breakout performance, or come close to it, before anointing him a rising star.
So it is with Trade Storm in the Group 2 Zabeel Mile on Saturday at Meydan. Trade Storm came to Dubai this winter from England as a mildly upwardly mobile handicapper who, at age 5, had only three career wins. On Jan. 24 he finished 11th of 14 in a Meydan turf handicap, a race trainer David Simcock suggested Trade Storm needed after a layoff. Did he ever.
All Too Hard, a 4-year-old Australian-bred colt who is a half-brother to the unbeaten star sprinter Black Caviar, can win his third Group 1 of 2013 in Saturday’s $515,000 Australian Guineas at Flemington Racecourse.
While All Too Hard will be a heavy favorite, he has not scared away the competition. The one-mile Guineas has drawn 17 entries, although the field will be limited to 16 starters.
To learn about the UAE Oaks one really only needs to look closely at the UAE 1000 Guineas. The nine fillies entered in the Group 3, $250,000 UAE Oaks, the Thursday feature at Meydan, raced in the 1000 Guineas on Feb. 7. In fact, the card-shuffling act runs deeper, since five Oaks starters also raced Jan. 17 in the 1000 Guineas Trial.
