Gitano Hernando faces seven rivals on the Lingfield Park Polytrack on Saturday when he preps for the Dubai World Cup in the Winter Derby Trial, a $61,000 race at the World Cup distance of 1 1/4 miles. This will be the first outing for Gitano Hernando, a 4-year-old son of Hernando, since he sprung an 18-1 surprise in the Goodwood Stakes on the Santa Anita Pro-Ride on Oct. 10.
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DRF Past Performances
Midshipman returned to winning ways at Meydan on Thursday night with a bloodless 3 1/4-length victory over his Godolphin stablemate Asset in a $110,000 seven-furlong conditions race. Midshipman was fourth in Round 1 of the Maktoum Challenge going a mile on Jan. 28, and this step down in class and distance was just what the doctor ordered. Midshipman was fourth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and winless since taking a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer at Belmont Park on Sept. 18.
The 4-year-old Gitano Hernando could face as many as 13 opponents and will be conceding weight when he preps for his Dubai World Cup date in the Winter Derby Trial on the Lingfield Park Polytrack on Saturday.
The conditions of the 1 1/4-mile listed race state that 4-year-olds carry 125 pounds while older horses tote 126. Winners of a Group 1 or Grade 1 since May 31 carry a seven-pound penalty, so Gitano Hernando will heft 132 pounds, thanks to his victory in last year's Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita.
The Group 3 Balanchine Stakes and the listed UAE Oaks are the features on Meydan's eight-race, $1.26 million card Thursday night, but both have come up weak, so American attention should be focused on the reappearance of Midshipman in a competitive seven-furlong allowance.
Espoir City and Buena Vista punched their tickets to Dubai with winning performances in Japan this weekend. Espoir City routed a very good field in taking the $2 million, Grade 1 February Stakes at Tokyo on Sunday, earning a trip to Meydan for the Dubai World Cup. On Saturday, the 4-year-old filly Buena Vista broke a three-race losing streak, beating males in the Grade 2, $1.35 million Kyoto Kinen to secure a place in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Sacred Kingdom remains the world's premier sprinter after his unsurprising 1 1/4-length victory in the Group 1, $580,000 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday. Although stuck on the rail in sixth place into the stretch, the 6-year-old Australian-bred son of Encosta de Lago quickened under Brent Prebble to lead just inside the eighth pole and won rather decisively.
Bankable and jockey Ryan Moore outdueled Imbongi and his rider, Christophe Soumillon, for a game nose victory in the $250,000, Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort at Meydan on Friday night, performances that could ultimately land both horses in the Dubai Duty Free.
The task awaiting Sacred Kingdom at Sha Tin on Sunday in the six-furlong Chairman's Sprint Prize, a Hong Kong Group 1 dash valued at $580,000, appears to be a straightforward one. The world's highest rated sprinter, Sacred Kingdom will be facing much the same group of horses he has beaten in his last two starts, when he won the Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 13 and the Centenary Sprint Cup on Jan. 31.
Espoir City and Success Brocken renew their growing rivalry at Tokyo on Sunday, when they will jockey for Dubai World Cup positions in the February Stakes, a Grade 1 dirt mile worth $2 million.
A Gold Allure 5-year-old trained by Akio Adachi, Espoir City got the upper hand the last time these two met, taking the 1 1/8-mile Japan Cup Dirt on Dec. 6 when Success Brocken was six lengths behind in fourth. Espoir City also took the measure of Success Brocken when he beat him by four lengths into second in the Mile Championship on dirt at Morioka in October.