|
|
 |
|
#61
02-16-2008, 02:47 AM
|
||||
|
||||
Divine park possible for the Godolphin Mile.....
|
|
#62
02-17-2008, 06:29 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
#63
02-17-2008, 10:09 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
#65
02-18-2008, 10:51 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
For Curlin fans...
UAE... Curlin arrives in Dubai with ‘pep in his step’ After enjoying a flight “that couldn’t have gone any better” in the words of assistant trainer Scott Blasi, Horse of the Year Curlin arrived in Dubai on Sunday evening and settled comfortably into a spacious stall in the quarantine area of the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse backstretch. When dawn broke on Monday morning, the son of Smart Strike was alert and bright as he stretched his legs with a walk around the barn and received a bath. Curlin was to stay in quarantine for 48 hours before getting his first feel of the Nad Al Sheba dirt track on Wednesday as he prepares for his initial start of 2008, a $175,000 race on February 28 that is part of the Dubai International Racing Carnival, and then the Dubai World Cup (UAE-gr. I). “Curlin is pretty smart—he knows he’s here to do something,” Blasi said. “He’s got quite a bit of pep in his step, so I’ll be anxious to get him to the track.” The four-year-old son of Smart Strike is eating well, but Blasi noted that the robust colt typically has a strong appetite. “He’s a good doer. He didn’t get that big by not eating,” he quipped, adding, “He looks really good.” Curlin’s regular exercise rider, Carmen Rosas, also made the trip to Dubai, along with Blasi’s pony, Poncho, who is enjoying his Dubai accommodations near his famous Thoroughbred companion. “Right now Poncho thinks he’s died and gone to heaven,” Blasi said. “He’s got a stall the size of a paddock.” From the time Curlin and Poncho arrived at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport on Saturday, Blasi said everything about the trip went exceptionally well. It took little time to load and depart, and a refueling stop at the Stanstead Airport in England was brief and uneventful. “My hat’s off to whoever orchestrated all this,” Blasi said, praising the Janah Management Co. Ltd. of Newmarket, England, which dispatched skilled traveling groom Chris Webster to help tend to Curlin. Blasi said Curlin is scheduled to breeze early next week before the race, which will be contested over 2,000 meters. Jockey Robby Albarado is due to arrive in Dubai on February 26, and trainer Steve Asmussen, who sent out the 4,000th winner of his career on Sunday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, will arrive the following day.
|
|
#66
02-18-2008, 05:17 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
#67
02-19-2008, 10:46 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Morty, why don't you update the Japanese runners and the situation with the quarantine problems.....
|
|
#68
03-01-2008, 03:30 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Take on Vodka for the Duty Free.....
|
|
#69
03-03-2008, 10:32 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Super Thursday has it's own thread...
* * * From the ERA..... American squad taking shape for World Cup day Even though Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap (Gr.1) may have scrambled the aspirations of some of America’s Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) program contenders, the contingent from the United States is beginning to take shape. There could be at least four American-based horses in the world’s richest race, with reigning Horse of the Year Curlin, the WinStar Farm duo of Well Armed and Spring At Last (the latter co-owned with J. Paul Reddam), and the Allen Paulson Living Trust’s A. P. Arrow currently leading the way. A. P. Arrow, who apparently will be the only representative of leading American trainer Todd Pletcher in Dubai this year, worked on Sunday at Palm Beach Downs in Florida, covering five furlongs in 1:01.60 over a dirt surface rated fast. The move was the fastest of five at the distance. A six-year-old son of A.P. Indy, A. P. Arrow roared down the Gulfstream Park stretch to missing catching Spring At Last in the Donn Handicap (Gr.1) on February 2 by a half-length. “It was almost exactly what we had in mind for him,” Pletcher said with a laugh, indicating that he would have preferred a victory. “But he ran very well.” With several years of experience sending horses to Dubai, including five in 2007, Pletcher said he intends to get most of A. P. Arrow’s serious work done before he ships. Then, the chestnut would either gallop up to the 2,000-meter race or have just a light breeze at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. “He’s obviously an older horse and well traveled so I feel like he’ll handle it,” Pletcher said. And with his strong closing style, “I would think the long stretch (at Nad Al Sheba) would suit him very well.” A. P. Arrow has won or placed in 16 of 22 starts, including a victory in last year’s Clark Handicap (Gr.2) at Churchill Downs, and has earned US$1,128,290 while carrying the famous Paulson colors that Cigar bore while winning the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996. Some of the Santa Anita Handicap competitors, including winner Heatseeker, also could race in Dubai but their connections have not determined a next target. Meanwhile, three American candidates for the Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1) worked over the weekend, with runners on the East and West Coast firing bullets with the fastest times. Benny the Bull, a Grade 1 winner who captured the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint Stakes impressively in his only start to date of 2008, drilled five furlongs in 1:00 handily at Palm Meadows Training Center on Friday for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. That move was the best of 19 at the distance. On the opposite coast the same day, Grade 3 winner Bushwacker drilled five furlongs in :57.40 at Hollywood Park, fastest of 31 at the distance. Trainer Bill Currin said he caught the six-year-old by Outflanker galloping out six furlongs in 1:09.60. “He's ready, fit. I worked him with no Lasix, because I can't use it (in Dubai),” Currin told Daily Racing Form. He's sound and he's ready to travel." Bushwacker did not enjoy a trip to Florida for the Sunshine Millions Sprint, however, finishing 11th behind Benny the Bull. Another Dubai Golden Shaheen contender, Grade 1 winner and two-time track record setter Idiot Proof worked on Saturday, going a half-mile in :47.80 over the all-weather track at Santa Anita Park, seventh fastest of 47 works at the distance that day. Idiot Proof won the Ancient Title Stakes (Gr.1) at Santa Anita last fall and then finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr.1). In two starts this year, the four-year-old son of Benchmark has finished third in the El Conejo Handicap (Gr.3) and second in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap. Barbecue Eddie, a Stormy Atlantic gelding who finished ahead of Idiot Proof while second in the El Conejo and then missed by just a neck to In Summation in the Palos Verdes Handicap (Gr.2), also is on target for the Dubai Golden Shaheen, trainer Brian Koriner confirmed. Other American horses preparing for Dubai World Cup program races include 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr.1) winner Better Talk Now, who toured five furlongs at Palm Meadows on Friday in a leisurely 1:05 while working for the Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr.1), and Benny the Bull’s stablemate Diamond Stripes, who drilled six furlongs in 1:15 at Palm Meadows the same day. Winner of the Meadowlands Cup Handicap (Gr.2) last year over 2006 Dubai World Cup third-place finisher Magna Graduate, Diamond Stripes is aiming for the Godolphin Mile (Gr.2) after placing in three Grade 1 events last year at 1 1/8 miles.
|
|
#71
03-11-2008, 02:26 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Not going to Dubai.....
Champs Elysees Awesome Gem Student Council Monterey Jazz Oh good Lord, Great Hunter is going..... Last edited by my miss storm cat : 03-11-2008 at 07:28 PM.
|
|
#72
03-11-2008, 10:25 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Agnes Jedi and Iide Kenshin.....
(5 runners from Japan total).
|
|
#74
03-11-2008, 11:16 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
|
|
#75
03-11-2008, 11:43 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
 You know that I respect the Yellow Floyd
__________________
No wonder they like it hot.... 
|
|
#76
03-12-2008, 01:06 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I'm excited about seeing Vodka..... you too? 
|
|
#77
03-12-2008, 10:33 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
SUNNY POWER (Aus) that will turn me on. Or Sans Adien Matsurida Gogh or at least, Super Hornet. Let us see the new faces. Dont you think¡. 
__________________
No wonder they like it hot....
|
|
#78
03-12-2008, 11:54 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Interesting that they're sending Admire Aura. AA, Vermilion, VODKA, Agnes Jedi and Iide Kenshin... perhaps we should write to the JRA and ask that they send a few more? * * * From the DRC... Well Armed turns in ‘super’ Dubai World Cup breeze If trainer Eoin Harty was happy with Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) candidate Well Armed’s workout on March 5, he was nearly ecstatic with the five-year-old gelding’s exercise on Tuesday. “He went super,” Harty said after jockey Aaron Gryder steered the son of Tiznow through five furlongs (approximately 1,000 meters) in 1:00.40 over the all-weather surface at Santa Anita Park. “He looked like he went even easier than he did last week.” Harty knows he has several advantages with the WinStar Farm colorbearer going into the US$6 million Dubai World Cup, sponsored by Emirates Airline. Not only has Well Armed already won at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, notching a conditions race victory during the 2006 Dubai International Racing Carnival, he also is blessed with strong tactical speed. Perhaps most importantly, Well Armed is thriving as the race looms closer. “I couldn’t ask for him to be doing any better before going over there,” Harty said. The trainer plans to send Well Armed out for a seven-furlong (about 1,400-meter) workout next week prior to his scheduled departure for Dubai on March 18. Once in the United Arab Emirates, Harty said he probably will breeze the Grade 2 winner and Hollywood Park track record setter an easy half-mile (about 800 meters) before the world’s richest race. One of Well Armed’s American-based rivals in the Dubai World Cup is expected to be A. P. Arrow, a six-year-old son of leading sire A.P. Indy whose strong closing rally in the Donn Handicap (Gr.1) at Gulfstream Park fell just a half-length short of winner Spring At Last. A. P. Arrow drilled five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Palm Beach Downs in Florida on Sunday for trainer Todd Pletcher. That workout was the third fastest of eight at the distance at the training center and followed a similar move a week earlier. Barbecue Eddie aims for Golden Shaheen breakthrough It might seem like a tall order for a horse that has never won a stakes race to claim a major prize on the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) program, but California trainer Brian Koriner wouldn’t want to be anywhere else with sharp sprinter Barbecue Eddie than at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on March 29. Koriner knows the four-year-old gelding has proved he is competitive with some of America’s speediest runners and thus doesn’t want to miss taking a shot at the US$2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1), sponsored by Gulf News. “It’s a great opportunity,” Koriner said Tuesday after watching Barbecue Eddie zip through a five-furlong (about 1,000-meter) workout at Santa Anita Park. “He went really well,” he added of the drill. “He’s a really good work horse. He loped out six furlongs in 1:13.40, and he’ll have one more breeze next week before he leaves (for Dubai). It will be something pretty light and we’ll send him on his way.” Once Koriner found out that Idiot Proof was going to contest the Dubai Golden Shaheen, he knew Barbecue Eddie deserved his chance, too. Owned by Brewer Racing Stable and John D. and John R. Haagsma, Barbecue Eddie finished ahead of Idiot Proof when the pair was second and third, respectively, in the El Conejo Handicap (Gr.3) on January 1 at Santa Anita. He was also just three-quarters of a length behind in third when Idiot Proof won the Ancient Title Stakes (Gr.1) last October. “If Idiot Proof had gone over and won, it would have been really hard to sit back and not be there,” Koriner said. Like most trainers who have not saddled a runner in a straightaway sprint, Koriner said he did not know how Barbecue Eddie, a four-year-old gelding by Stormy Atlantic, would handle the 1,200-meter dash down the Nad Al Sheba stretch. However, he suggested the event is more a test for jockeys than the horses themselves, and he will rely on rider Aaron Gryder to put Barbecue Eddie in a good position. “He’s able to lay off the pace or able to be on the lead,” Koriner said of the versatile Barbecue Eddie, who in his most recent start finished just a neck behind Grade 1 winner In Summation in the six-furlong (about 1,200-meter) Palos Verdes Handicap (Gr.2) at Santa Anita on January 21. “In Summation barely got by him,” Koriner said. “But it’s good we don’t have to run against him again.” In Summation is being rested and will not make the trip to Dubai. After the Dubai Golden Shaheen, Barbecue Eddie also will get a rest and then will be honed for the Del Mar meet this summer in Southern California. Eventually, Koriner said he hopes the gelding will make the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr.1), which will be run at Santa Anita.
|
|
#79
03-12-2008, 12:48 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
[quote=my miss storm cat]Yeah I agree.
Interesting that they're sending Admire Aura. AA, Vermilion, VODKA, Agnes Jedi and Iide Kenshin... perhaps we should write to the JRA and ask that they send a few more? ¡ UPS ! I FORGET........ DRAGON FIRE
__________________
No wonder they like it hot....
|
|
#80
03-13-2008, 11:34 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Tell me about Dragon Fire!
* * * From the DRC... Great Hunter seeks redemption in Dubai World Cup For some American-based horses, there is nothing like good old fashioned dirt. Owner J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill are hoping that Great Hunter is one of those horses and that he will redeem himself on the sand track at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse after his last four unplaced performances on Santa Anita Park’s synthetic surface. That’s why they’re sending Great Hunter, a Grade 1 winner at two but luckless recently, from California to the US$6 million Dubai World Cup (Gr.1), sponsored by Emirates Airline. “He’s run his best races on dirt,” said Dennis O’Neill, the trainer’s brother who works with the stable. “We’re hoping the synthetic tracks just aren’t his cup of tea and that he’ll do better with a return to dirt. He’s training great and he’s sound and he looks fantastic. So, if you’re going to run back on the dirt, why not do it for $6 million?” Doug O’Neill indicated before Great Hunter’s most recent start in the Santa Anita Handicap (Gr.1) on March 1 that he was hoping for a big performance. But the four-year-old son of Juddmonte Farms’ stallion Aptitude, who competed in the 2001 Dubai World Cup, finished eighth in the Big ’Cap behind winner Heatseeker. Yet none of Great Hunter’s connections are ready to give up on the dark bay colt, who was unplaced in the Kentucky Derby (Gr.1) last year and then missed the Belmont Stakes (Gr.1) when diagnosed with a bone chip in his right front ankle. He was sidelined for about six months after that injury. “Even though he has been disappointing recently, I know the horse has got a ton of ability,” said Dennis O’ Neill, who scouted the colt before Reddam purchased him privately following a maiden race victory as a two-year-old at Lone Star Park in Texas. Great Hunter will be the fourth American-based horse in the Dubai World Cup, following reigning Horse of the Year Curlin and Grade 2 winners Well Armed and A. P. Arrow. O’Neill and Reddam won their first Dubai World Cup program race last year when Spring At Last was victorious in the Godolphin Mile (Gr.2). After the son of Silver Deputy captured the Donn Handicap (Gr.1) last month, it appeared he would represent the stable in the Dubai World Cup. However, Doug O’Neill said he preferred for the five-year-old horse, who is co-owned by WinStar Farm, to have a little more time between his races. Assistant trainer Leandro Mora is set to travel with Great Hunter to Dubai, as he has with the previous stable runners that have competed on the Dubai World Cup program. Dennis O’Neill said Great Hunter ships well and is “a low key and classy horse,” thus one that should take the trip in stride. From 14 career starts, Great Hunter has won three races and placed five times while earning $790,500. One of America’s top juveniles of 2006, he won the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (Gr.1) over eventual Grade 1 winner Circular Quay and champion and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense before finishing third behind Street Sense and Circular Quay, respectively, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Gr.1). As a three-year-old, Great Hunter won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (Gr.2). Wygods will cheer for Idiot Proof, Jalil in Dubai Owners Martin and Pam Wygod plan to travel to the United Arab Emirates to cheer on their homebred Grade 1 winner Idiot Proof in the US$2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1), sponsored by Gulf News, on March 29. But while the four-year-old son of their stallion Benchmark is the only runner on the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) program that will carry their silks, the Wygods might be cheering just as strongly for Godolphin’s Jalil in the main event of the evening. “They might be more excited about that horse than about my horse,” said a chuckling Clifford Sise Jr., who trains Idiot Proof for the couple, pointing out that the Wygods bred Jalil and sold him as a yearling to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s bloodstock adviser John Ferguson for $9.7 million. “They’re very excited about Jalil,” he continued. “They still own the dam (Grade 1 winner Tranquility Lake) and they raced his brother, After Market,” a multiple Grade 1 winner who is standing his first season at stud at Lane’s End near Versailles, Kentucky, for an advertised fee of $30,000. Idiot Proof is also a horse who can generate excitement. Named after a phrase Martin Wygod frequently uses when trying to arrange efficient business deals, Idiot Proof is a “really sweet little horse,” Sise said with affection, noting that the quiet colt trains consistently well and thus lives up to his name. Although Sise has never been to Dubai before, he said he believes the mild desert air of the spring will be good for Idiot Proof. “I think he’s going to get over there and have a ball,” he added. Sise plans to dispatch Idiot Proof for a workout this weekend and then give him another timed exercise about five days before the Dubai Golden Shaheen, sending him down the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse stretch to prepare for the 1,200-meter straightaway dash. Idiot Proof has been a very reliable racehorse, winning five of 11 career starts and placing five additional times while earning $863,204. A winner of his first start at two, Idiot Proof graduated immediately to stakes company, and his wins include the six-furlong (about 1,200 meter) Ancient Title Stakes (Gr.1) last year in 1:07.57, a Santa Anita Park track record, after the Jersey Shore Breeders’ Cup Stakes (Gr.3) in a Monmouth Park track record of 1:07.47. Idiot Proof finished second to eventual American champion sprinter Midnight Lute in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr.1). This year, Idiot Proof has raced twice, finishing third in the El Conejo Handicap (Gr.3) at Santa Anita and second in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap at Turf Paradise. “It’s always disappointing when you lose,” Sise said of the Phoenix effort, yet he pointed out that the bright side of the race for Idiot Proof is that the timing of the February 16 event should be ideal in terms of setting the colt up for his best effort in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. Regular rider David Flores will be back on Idiot Proof in Dubai.
|
Linear Mode
