Michael Dickinson could have a runner in this year's Epsom Derby, as he has nominated Master William to the British classic.
Master William won his maiden race in his second start, the 1 1/16-mile Cup and Saucer Stakes on turf at Woodbine on Oct. 11. He was only fourth in his 2004 debut in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream on Feb. 21.
The apparent weakness among Godolphin's 3-year-olds this season is amply illustrated by the fact that not one of the eight entries in Thursday's UAE Oaks at Nad Al Sheba is trained by Saeed bin Suroor.
Godolphin fillies have won the 1 1/8-mile test each of the last three years. This year's $250,000 contest could boil down to a battle between the Satish Seemar-trained South African import Festive Style and the Clive Brittain-trained British import Menhoubah.
Victory Moon threw down the Dubai World Cup gauntlet to Medaglia d'Oro, overcoming trouble to score an authoritative victory in Round 3 of the Maktoum Challenge at Nad Al Sheba on Saturday night.
Trained in South Africa by Mike de Kock and ridden by Weichong Marwing, Victory Moon looked as if he was in trouble, pinned against the inside rail with nowhere to go, passing the three-sixteenths pole.
Kempton Park has announced plans to install an all-weather track with hopes for a Jan. 1, 2006 opening.
The 127-year-old racecourse, located 18 miles south of London, will become the fifth track in Britain to have a dirt course, joining nearby Lingfield Park as well as Southwell and Wolverhampton. Newmarket plans to open its own straight, all-weather track next year.
The Kempton dirt track will be employed year-round and will replace the flat turf course. Thus, the Group 3, 1 1/2-mile September Stakes is slated to become the first group race to be run on dirt in Europe.
Dubai World Cup Preview Night at Nad Al Sheba on Saturday will feature course-and-distance preps for all six of the big races on Dubai World Cup Night on March 27, but serious Godolphin contenders will be hard to find.
With Godolphin yet to produce viable hope for either the World Cup or the UAE Derby, Saturday's preps for those two races should go to a pair of Southern Hemisphere invaders.
NEW YORK - In Irish racing, three trainers dominate all.
Aidan O'Brien, Dermot Weld, and John Oxx collect most of the spoils that escape British invaders. Where this year's Irish classic generation is concerned, O'Brien and Weld could be even more dominant. With Oxx's main supplier, the Aga Khan, devoid of any leading juveniles in Ireland last year, the top 15 2-year-olds in Timeform's year-end ratings are trained by either O'Brien (12) or Weld (3).
Fusao Sekiguchi has decided to keep his $2.79 million Sunday Silence yearling colt in Japan with rookie trainer Yasutoshi Ikee.
The is considered a surprise, as the 35-year-old Ikee will only begin his career as a trainer in March. Sekiguchi won the Kentucky Derby in 2000 as the owner of Fusaichi Pegasus.
* Admire Don, winner of the one-mile Grade 1 February Stakes at Tokyo on Sunday, will join Regent Bluff, winner of the Grade 2 Nagoya Grand Prix in December, as the Japanese entries in the Dubai World Cup on March 27.
Right Approach swooped fast and late to win the listed Al Rashidiya Unfuwain Stakes at Nad Al Sheba on Saturday night.
Formerly trained in England by Michael Stoute and owned by Queen Elizabeth, Right Approach was the lesser fancied of an entry for trainer Mike de Kock, but finished with a flourish under Kerrin McEvoy to edge stablemate Surveyor by a head.