Tag Archive for: Dubai World Cup

Monday Musings: Emollient

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At any time over the past 20-odd years you would never have believed it possible, writes Tony Stafford. But when Tower Of London came with a breathtaking run from the back under Ryan Moore to win the Dubai Gold Cup, there was a beaming Michael Tabor on hand to welcome the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt into the winner’s enclosure.

Back home in the UK, I needed a second take as Nick Luck came across to interview him. “Congratulations”, said Luck. “Thank you, it’s my first time here”, replied Tabor.

“Your first time at Meydan?”, continued the interviewer. “Not just at Meydan, my first time ever in Dubai. It’s fantastic, not just the racecourse, the whole of Dubai!”

Whether Michael would have been quite as amiable following a third career bomb from Auguste Rodin in the £2.7milion to the winner Sheema Classic just over three hours later is immaterial. He said it and if the £400-odd grand victory for Tower Of London was chicken-feed in relation to the riches on offer later on, it still made the journey a success for Tabor and a number of elated fellow travellers celebrating the victory in the unsaddling enclosure afterwards.

For those two decades at the start of the millennium, Coolmore, especially Michael Tabor, had been sworn racecourse adversaries of the men from Dubai, largely in the person of Sheikh Mohammed Al Rashid bin Maktoum, Ruler of that Emirate.

Their mild-mannered if ultra-competitive trainer Aidan O’Brien would never have viewed the rivalry with anything like the fierceness of his owner, but I think we should applaud one man for the emollient qualities that made Saturday’s moment possible.

Step forward Charlie Appleby, the always-amiable Devonian who took over the training of half of Godolphin’s UK team. This occurred as a result of the misdeeds of Mahmood al Zarooni and his proven use of illicit means to propel his already formidable horses even further forward. Saeed bin Suroor was, and remains, supervising the other gradually shrinking portion.

One of the horses found to have been doped – but not at the time of his biggest success – was the 2012 St Leger winner Encke. It was in the spring of the following year that the eight-year punishment was handed down to the Dubai national. Ban served, he started to train again domestically with a much smaller team.

Appleby was al Zarooni’s assistant at the time of Encke’s St Leger and the biggest effect of that victory was that it denied Camelot, winner of that year’s 2000 Guineas and Derby, of what would have been the first Triple Crown in the UK since Vincent O’Brien and Nijinsky in 1970.

Al Zarooni’s ban came following a BHA inspection the following year after the St Leger found 11 horses testing positive to the presence of anabolic steroids in their systems. The steroids, he said, were brought back in his suitcase from the UAE, adding he “didn’t know they were prohibited”.

By the time of the ban, al Zarooni had won three races, two at the 2013 Craven meeting and another in the same week at Wolverhampton. Appleby took over soon after and sent out 80 winners that season. After almost two years off the track after his Classic success, Encke, still an entire, had three placed runs under the Appleby banner before disappearing without a trace.

The Appleby-Coolmore thawing of relations began with the mutual respect that Charlie and Aidan O’Brien invariably showed each other for their respective successes in major races. Also, Appleby’s and Ryan Moore’s children know each other very well. Charlie had no qualms about regularly congratulating Aidan and the owners, most often Michael Tabor, for their successes and Aidan responded in kind. Images of their mutual celebrations at Santa Anita and the like are still fresh in the memory.

Last year, there was the usual triumphal season for Coolmore and Aidan with yet another Derby, and other achievements, for Auguste Rodin. Contrastingly, it was the first time for a while that Appleby’s Classic generation had been below par. Last year’s two-year-olds will need to step up in the major races in 2024.

It didn’t take long though for Appleby to enjoy himself on his own terms. Despite struggling with periodic absences through his career, the Dubawi gelding Rebel’s Romance had proved himself a high-class performer, making the Breeders’ Cup Turf race in October 2022, his ninth win in only 12 starts.

After three disappointing performances last year he got back on track in a Listed race at Kempton in December and even though he followed up with a £1 million-plus pot in Doha last month he was allowed to start at 25/1. So now it’s 12 wins in 18, and £6.173m in prizemoney. Not bad!

While Auguste Rodin languished at the rear, reminiscent of his Guineas and King George meltdowns from last year, William Buick always had Rebel’s Romance in touch behind the front-running duo of Point Lonsdale, Auguste’s pacemaker, and the Japanese Stars On Earth. That Point Lonsdale, a 100/1 shot, could finish 6th, picking up almost £100k, shows just how far below expectations the favourite ran.

Hopefully, as last year, that first comeback run will be forgotten when he gets fully into stride. Nowadays it’s more a case of what a potential stallion has won rather the times he has lost that govern his marketability and, as a son of Deep Impact, there’ll always be room for him in Japan. They can afford him too!

Back in the Sheema Classic, Buick merely had to go past the front pair and wait for the expected late runners, but none came. Then a half-hour later, Charlie was just as delighted when the former Bob Baffert-trained Laurel River, now handled in Dubai by Bhupat Seemar made a mockery of the £10 million Dubai World Cup, never looking like relinquishing the long lead jockey Tadhg O’Shea initiated early in the ten-furlong dirt race.

The first prize of £5m should equate to about half a million quid for the rider who a decade or so ago regularly came to ride work for Brian Meehan at Manton, ostensibly in his job as he recalls it as number two (or more accurately surely three behind the late Hamdan Al Maktoum’s first jockey Paul Hanagan and recently retired Dane O’Neill). I always found Tadhg a friendly young man. It was a surprise at the time when he decided to go – like so many other fringe jockeys – to Dubai. He’s Beyond the Fringe now.

Laurel River was allowed to start at 17/2 amid a deluge of money for the Kazakhstan entry – sounds more like one of the heats of the Eurovision Song Contest – Kabirkhan, winner of 11 of his previous 12 starts.

A son of California Chrome, the 2014 Kentucky Derby and 2016 Dubai World Cup victor, Kabirkhan was a $12k buy from bargain basement Book 5 at Keeneland yearling sales in 2021. Sent to Kazakhstan where he went unbeaten at two, he was similarly never finding anything remotely to test him in his three-year-old season in Russia.

Now in the care of legendary locally based American handler Doug Watson and ridden by another of the long-term second-string jockeys Pat Dobbs, he was perfectly poised on the rail as Laurel River took off.

While Laurel River just went further and further away, the favourite faded and it was left to last year’s winner, the Japanese Ushba Tesoro, who came from miles behind to take second. Not quite the riches from 2023, but still worth nigh on £2 million for connections of the seven-year-old entire.

Frankie Dettori was back in ninth on Bob Baffert’s Newgate but, earlier, restored to the Godolphin blue, because amazingly he, unlike Buick, can ride at 8st5lb – given a few weeks’ notice, of course – he rode Appleby’s filly Star Of Mystery into second place behind six-year-old California Spangle, trained in Hong Kong by Tony Cruz, in the Al Quoz Sprint.

It wasn’t all gloom for Baffert. His colt Muth, by Good Magic (2nd Kentucky Derby) won the Arkansas Derby comfortably at Oaklawn Park. That race was worth £620k and Baffert used it successfully as the prep back in 2015 when his American Pharoah became the first US Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Justify in 2018 is the most recent of 13 horses to achieve that feat. He, like American Pharoah, is based at Ashford stud in Kentucky, Coolmore’s US base. Justify’s sons and daughters are already showing extraordinary ability, led of course by City Of Troy.

The winter 2000 Guineas favourite had his first look at a racecourse in 2024 at Leopardstown (re-scheduled from waterlogged Naas) a week ago. From the time he did what he did to his useful opponents in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last July, I’ve been convinced he’s the best two-year-old I’ve seen.

The Dewhurst win was just as emphatic, his all-the-way near four-length margin earning a 125 rating. Roll on May!

Talking of the Derby, there was a hark back to another time when an old-style “chalk jockey” won the race. Back in the height of Covid, the 2020 running was won by Serpentine, 25/1, ridden by the unknown, possibly even to his parents, Emmet McNamara, to the quietest ever reception for a Derby winner. I’m sure Bernard Kantor would have been quite bemused, consulting his race card as he supervised formalities after the race.

Serpentine, now a seven-year-old, won a 10-furlong Group 3 race at Rosehill, Australia, over the weekend. By Galileo, he was having his 18th race and first success since his Derby triumph, the last twelve following a gelding operation in March two years ago. He is now trained by close Coolmore friend Gai Waterhouse and joint licence-holder Adrian Bott.

  • TS


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Laurel River in full flow for Dubai World Cup rout

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Laurel River turned the Dubai World Cup into a procession when running out a wide-margin winner for local trainer Bhupat Seemar and jockey Tadhg O’Shea.

Formerly trained by Bob Baffert, the Juddmonte-owned six-year-old was trying the 10-furlong trip for the first time but with two furlongs to run had the race won.

The likes of Derma Sotogake, Ushba Tesoro, Newgate and Kabirkhan had garnered most of the pre-race talk, with Laurel River almost sneaking in under the radar.

It looked a brave decision to step him up in trip, despite winning a Group Three by almost seven lengths over a mile last time out.

O’Shea was allowed to dictate the race from a long way out and under no pressure, he went further and further clear.

Entering the final furlong, he was still 10 lengths ahead and while Laurel River understandably got tired late on, he crossed the line well ahead of Ushba Tesoro and Senor Buscador.

The winning trainer said: “I would like to thank Juddmonte and His Royal Highness for sending me the horse. I was worried that they might be going too fast but Tadhg got the right fractions and also a breather into him.

“It’s the greatest feeling to have won this race, but what he was doing in the mornings made me think, ‘what has this horse got?’

“There is so much stamina in his pedigree but his training was out of this world.”

O’Shea added: “I tell you one thing, I have never ridden one as good as him. I never dreamed I would win the Dubai World Cup, it really is the stuff of dreams.

“He behaved like a pony; he hit the gates and did everything from the front, it was unbelievable. He gave himself every chance to get the distance, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Laurel River won the Dubai World Cup
Laurel River won the Dubai World Cup (PA)

Connections of the placed horses were quick to pay tribute to the runaway winner.

Jockey Yuga Kawada, who was eight and a half lengths back in second on Ushba Tesoro, said: “He was in good form and he ran his race. It was a good run.

“We managed to beat Senor Buscador today but the winner was too fast and stayed really well in front. We will be prepared for the Breeders’ Cup and I believe Del Mar will suit him better than Santa Anita.”

Senor Buscador was a neck further back in third and his trainer Todd Fincher commented: “He brings it every time, he ran a really good race. He might have started his run a little early trying to catch Laurel River and maybe that cost us a placing. Hats off to Laurel River, he freaked on everybody there.

“We were hoping there would be a little pace in there, but Laurel River is a nice horse and you’re not going to catch a horse like that if he gets loose. That’s what we’re up against, he’s got to have some pace to run at. It’s very rare in a Grade One race that there’s no pace, but we are very proud of him.”



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Annaf misses Dubai date due to travel setback

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Annaf will miss out on the chance to supplement his recent Saudi Arabian success on Dubai World Cup Night having met with a setback in transit.

Mick Appleby’s five-year-old enjoyed a fine 2023 season and having signed off with big wins at both Doncaster and Ascot, he has picked up from where he left off this term, going close in the Kachy Stakes before striking gold in the $2million Saudi National Bank 1351 Turf Sprint in Riyadh last month.

The son of Muhaarar was in line to seek an international double in Meydan’s Al Quoz Sprint on Saturday, but having picked up a respiratory illness on the flight over to Dubai, will now return to Appleby’s Oakham base to be prepared for a domestic campaign centred around a trip to Royal Ascot.

Appleby said: “He got taken ill on the flight over, but it is not life threatening or anything and he’s hopefully going to be fine, it’s just prevented him from running.

“It’s a shame but it’s a risk you take when they are flying a fair bit. He came home after Saudi and was heading back out so maybe it was just a bit too much for him.

“He should be fine and the vets out in Dubai in the hospital are happy with him – he should be fine to come back home when the other one (Roberto Escobarr) does.

“We’ll probably get him ready for Ascot now, that will probably be the main aim.”

Big Evs struck Breeders' Cup gold
Big Evs struck Breeders’ Cup gold (PA)

The Royal meeting could also feature on the agenda for Appleby’s leading light Big Evs who is being readied for his three-year-old season.

The son of Blue Point excelled as a juvenile, winning top-quality two-year-old races at home before giving his team a day to remember when winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

His handler is keen to keep his high-class speedster to five furlongs for the early part of the season, which would see ideas of the Commonwealth Cup put on the backburner for now. However, he does concede six-furlong contests will enter the equation at some stage.

Big Evs with trainer Mick Appleby
Big Evs with trainer Mick Appleby (Joe Giddens/PA)

Appleby continued: “He’s great and has wintered really well. He’s not far off being ready to run, we just need to decide where we are going to run.

“The obvious race (to target) would have been the Commonwealth Cup, but that is six furlongs and we don’t really want to try him over six first time back, so we’re not really sure where we will start back. The weather is not helping and it’s raining again here now.

“I think in the early season we will definitely be sticking to five furlongs. We’re obviously going to have to try him at six at some point and the way he won at Goodwood on that heavy ground, you would say he would stay the six.”



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Spirit Dancer to chase Dubai riches for Sir Alex Ferguson

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Spirit Dancer is firmly on course for a Dubai World Cup night outing after providing Sir Alex Ferguson with further international success in Saudi Arabia.

The Richard Fahey-trained seven-year-old gave the former Manchester United manager – along with co-owners Ged Mason and Peter Done – a day to remember when scoring in the Bahrain International Trophy in November and hit the target once again in the Middle East in the Neom Turf Cup.

Having scooped a first-prize of just shy of £1million when downing the likes of Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg in Riyadh, the son of Frankel will now return to Dubai, where he has spent the majority of the winter and will be prepared for Meydan action on March 30.

“It has been a great winter with him and he’s progressing well,” said Fahey.

“He’s taken to us to another level of enjoyment there and the whole thing has been great. It’s very exciting.

“We flew him into Dubai for his last run (in the Jebel Hatta) and left him there and now he has flown back to Dubai. We will see how he is, but he looks well and is summering well in Dubai. He’s in great form and enjoying life at the moment competing at the very highest level.

“Definitely, all being well, you will see him on World Cup night.”

Spirit Dancer’s latest victory came over an extended 10 furlongs and Fahey now has to decide whether Spirit Dancer stretches out to a mile and a half for the first time to take part in the Dubai Sheema Classic or drops back to nine furlongs for the Dubai Turf.

Fahey added: “I haven’t decided which race yet and it will be either be the nine-furlong race or the mile and a half. I’ll see how he is training and I have to make a decision soon because he has an invite, but I haven’t 100 per cent made a decision yet.

“It’s always been in my mind to give him a go (at a mile and a half).

“I’ll have to have look and see what runs in each race there and I’m afraid there is no easy race, but when they are $5m and $6m races, that’s what you expect in Dubai.”



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Algiers to enjoy well-deserved holiday, with long-term Breeders’ Cup aim

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Algiers will be held back for an autumn campaign and could be pointed towards the Breeders’ Cup following Saturday’s fine runner-up effort in the Dubai World Cup.

The Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Sharmardal gelding had finished second to Missed The Cut in the Listed Churchill Stakes at Lingfield in November, before winning two Grade Two races over a mile and an extended nine furlongs at Meydan.

Back to a mile-and-a-quarter in the $12million Dubai World Cup, he was running the race of his life under big-race jockey James Doyle, who looked to have his rivals beaten turning in.

However, the 11-4 chance was run down in the final furlong by Ushba Tesoro and just held on for second from Emblem Road.

“He ran his heart out and did us all proud,” said Ed Crisford. “It was a great performance from him and he proved himself among the top dirt horses in the world.

“They just went so quick up front – they were going some serious fractions, and that set it up for the deep closers, but all credit to him to keep going.”

Having tracked Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa and outsiders Remorse and Bendoog, who had set a searching gallop, Doyle set sail for home from the final turn.

After burning them off, Algiers led a furlong and a half out, only for Yuga Kawada aboard the Noboru Tagaki-trained Japanese raider fly past in the final 110 yards.

“All the horses around him stopped fairly quickly,” added Crisford. “I think coming into the straight, we all thought he’d won, but that last furlong was excruciating.

“It wasn’t to be, but he did us all proud. It is great for the team at home. It’s not so bittersweet. If someone had said to me in December, when he had got beaten in a Listed race at Lingfield that he would finish second in a World Cup, I wouldn’t have believed it.

“He has come a long way and he will go on a holiday now.”

The Hamdan Sultan Ali Alsabousi-owned six-year-old has now won just short of £2.5m in prize-money in his 21-race career.

Though winning four of his 14 starts on turf, he has only once finished out of the first two in all seven on artificial surfaces, including three wins, and connections are keen for him to ply his trade in that sphere from now on.

“I don’t think we’ll see him on turf again and I don’t think we will see him until the end of summer at some stage,” added Crisford.

“Obviously it is early days, and we are long way from it, but you’ve got to be potentially thinking of something like a Breeders’ Cup.”

Jadoomi could make his seasonal return at Newbury
Jadoomi could make his seasonal return at Newbury (Donall Farmer/PA)

Meanwhile, the stable’s dual Group Two-winning miler Jadoomi could bid for success at the top level this term.

Having taken Goodwood’s Celebration Mile, Jadoomi followed up in the Boomerang Stakes at Leopardstown in September.

He was last seen when beaten a length and a half by Bayside Boy in the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot in October.

Crisford said: “Jadoomi is good. He is coming along. His first target would be the Lockinge at Newbury, depending on ground.

“He’s doing nicely and hopefully by mid-May he’ll be ready to go.”



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Monday Musings: Old Stagers

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Another big international meeting, the fourth of its stature since October, Dubai World Cup night following the Saudi Cup last month, the Breeders’ Cup in early November and the Arc meeting in late summer has been and gone; naturally, with a sideways acknowledgement to Champions Day back home in Ascot soon after the Arc, writes Tony Stafford.

Three conclusions occurred to me after Saturday’s latest extravaganza at Meydan. First, that the world’s biggest races nowadays seem ever more susceptible to older horses. Second, the Japanese can win the world’s most valuable and coveted international events more readily nowadays than anyone else, be they on dirt or turf.

And then thirdly, a question. What has happened to all those multiple-coloured caps of strongly fancied members of the home team that used to mop up at their leisure each last Saturday in March as we looked on, marvelling, from back home?

From the moment Coolmore- and Japanese-shared seven-year-old entire Broome swooped late under Ryan Moore to deny Siskany in the two-mile Dubai Gold Cup, the second race on Saturday’s card, Charlie Appleby and William Buick were reduced to an unaccustomed minor role, which was even more surprising given the astonishing success they had all over Europe in the previous 12 months at the highest level.

True, they did go close once more, when Nation’s Pride looked a possible winner before finishing a creditable, close third behind Frankie Dettori and last year’s runner-up Lord North in the Dubai Turf. This was one race with multiple representation for the boys in blue, with Appleby’s second string in 9th and Saeed bin Suroor’s one runner in 13th place behind the Gosdens’ globe-trotting gelding who is also seven.

A feature of World Cup night since its inception in 1996 has been the ability to attract top horses from around the world. With almost half the races confined to dirt, the poor record of European horses in those races was to be expected, whereas the Americans licked their lips and, from the outset, filled their boots. For the record, Michael Stoute with Singspiel in the second-ever running 26 years ago, remains the only UK-trained winner of the Dubai World Cup itself.

Such was, and still is, the draw of massive money that Cigar, undisputed world champion at six years of age when he turned up, led credence to the event and, over the years, some of the greatest US stars were tempted with Curlin, Animal Kingdom and in 2017 Arrogate, all, plucking the prize.

In all, 11 American horses have won the race, an equal figure with the home team, whose first nine wins (eight for Godolphin, one for Sheikh Hamdan) were all supplied by Saeed bin Suroor. The disgraced Mahmood al Zarooni (replaced by Appleby to such brilliant effect over the past decade) and Kiaran McLoughlin, by Doug Watson, an American who has been based in Dubai for 30 years, had one each.

There was much celebrating when Doug’s 6yo gelding Danyah, a 33/1 shot trained for Shadwell Farm, won the Al Quoz Sprint on Turf. Another winter Dubai hardy annual in the Hamdan colours, Dane O’Neill took the riding plaudits.

The last US winner of the World Cup was Country Grammar, as a 5yo last year, when he was a fourth success in the race for Bob Baffert. Since that big money win, Country Grammer was emphatically put in his place by the one horse of the last couple of years whose presence would have been greatly welcomed, but Flightline is already going through his paternal duties at stud in the US.

Flightline beat Country Grammer on his final unbeaten career start in last year’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar by 19.5 lengths, never mind that otherwise the Baffert horse hadn’t been out of the first two for a couple of years.

Second in the Saudi Cup last year before stepping up to win the big one at Meydan, he followed a similar route this time around. He again ran a good second in Riyadh but on Saturday, carrying Frankie Dettori’s hopes of a fifth win in the race as a 52-year-old in his final year as an international rider, he bombed and finished only seventh.

The winner in what developed into an interesting contest, if one lacking glamour and a serious home challenge, was the Japanese Ushba Tesoro. This 6yo entire from Japan was the country’s second winner of the race, by a widening margin from the Crisfords’ (father and son) year-younger Algiers. The previous Japanese-trained winner, in 2011, was Victoire Pisa.

Algiers is a rarity for a horse trained in the UK, being a dirt specialist, and he warmed up for Saturday with two wide-margin victories on the surface. James Doyle had the ride and for once wasn’t upstaged by his friend and colleague Buick, as this race carried £2 million for the runner- up – the winner got £5.8 million!

Ryan Moore was another UK jockey earning his corn, and there is no question that over the past year the former champion has got his best form back. He timed the challenge on Broome around the outside to a nicety on turf and then switched to an equally masterful display on Sibelius, trained by Florida-based Jeremiah O’Dwyer. Jerry has added two syllables and a new career thousands of miles away, since being banned from riding for 18 months in the UK 12 years ago.

Jerry was a likeable Irish journeyman, based in Newmarket, but his involvement with Sabre Light, late in 2008, cost him his riding career. A horse that was switched from Alan Bailey to Jeff Pearce earlier that year became Jerry’s regular mount, and one on which he won several times initially.

The case, I seem to recall, involved a couple of runs a little later and revolved around the horse not winning when certain individuals thought he should (or was it the other way round? – it was the other way around – Ed.) and then needing to put it right next time, whichever way round that was.

It took ages for the authorities to bring the case. Apart from Pearce, who also lost his trainer’s licence – wife Lydia and later son Simon taking over – another former handler, who had won a Classic some years before but by then had handed in his licence, was also rumoured at the time to have known what had been (or not) happening.

Now all these years later, there’s Jerry, proving that everyone deserves a second chance and the fact he trains Sibelius for Japanese connections suggests he might well progress further in his new career.

If there was an equine star on the Meydan card, it had to be Equinox, winner of the Golden Shaheen over 1m4f on the turf. Even money to win for the fourth time in only six starts (plus two close 2nds), he now has £8million in earnings after dominating this from start to finish.

This was another nice payday for Ryan, aboard Westover, the £1 million runner-up, albeit closer at three-odd lengths than the ability gulf between the horses truly represents. Still, it was a good run for trainer Ralph Beckett’s 2022 Irish Derby winner and nice for Ryan not to have a rear view of him this time.

One unsung hero in the World Cup, formerly owned and bred by Alan Spence and the Hargreaves’ and a regular winner for Clive Cox, was 8yo Salute The Soldier. He was only eighth in the big race but won a Group 1 (his second over there) the previous time and has earned more than £1m for Bahrein-based Fawzi Nass.

Alan Spence had something closer to home to celebrate on Friday when his veteran hurdler On The Blind Side won for the Nicky Henderson stable at 50/1. “Were you on, Alan?” I asked. “Not a penny”, he replied, “but am I Happy? Delighted!”

Just so, Anthony Honeyball, whose debutant Crest Of Glory, a 4yo gelding, won the £60k to the winner Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper. He strode 15 lengths clear of 18 opponents which included a stable companion by the same sire, owned by a Geegeez syndicate. “He had an awful run!” said the Editor. “We’ll bring him back next season all being well, when we have high hopes of him.”

Oh, the name? It’s Dartmoor Pirate. By the same sire, Black Sam Bellamy as the winner, he was seventh despite the difficult run and is rated pretty useful - which the winner must also be!

- TS



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Ushba Tesoro rules the world for Japan

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Ushba Tesoro produced a remarkable run, coming from the back of the field under Yuga Kawada, to take the Dubai World Cup for Japan.

The early pace in the 10-furlong showpiece, worth $12million, was strong and it set up for closers.

Bendoog looked comfortable under Christophe Soumillon with Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa, who had been drawn wide, in company early on.

Yet when they turned for home, James Doyle aboard the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Algiers looked the likely winner and went a length clear with a furlong and a half to run.

But the imposing Ushba Tesoro (9-1), who had won five of his six starts since being switched to the dirt, ignored the kick-back as he circled the field and with a blistering turn of foot, ran down Doyle’s mount to win going away by two-and-three-quarter lengths.

After recording Japan’s second success in the race, following Victoire Pisa in 2011, winning trainer Noboru Takagi said: “I thought he would be in with a chance at the 100-metre mark.

“Yuga is one of the best riders in Japan, so it was a no-brainer to go with him today.

“It is an amazing feeling to have won a race like this. We will talk to the owners and decide on his future going forward.

“After his last race the Dubai World Cup was always in our sights.”

Kawada, having his first ride aboard the six-year-old son of Orfevre, said: “I am so very happy.

“It is an honour to be here. He won and I am so happy. I am so proud of him.

“He’d trained very well and it was a matter of how he adapted.

“I’m very proud of my horse and myself for winning the greatest race in the world.”

An owner representative for Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings said: “This was a complete team effort and the victory is for the effort of every individual in this team.

“This was the first win abroad for our syndicate and now we’ve opened our doors to the global stage we will look again.

The owners expressed an interest in going for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe if we won this today.”

Last year’s winner Country Grammer never looked like giving Frankie Dettori another famous victory in his last season, on what was the final Dubai ride of his career.

“I think it was just a bridge too far,” said Dettori. “He had a hard race in Saudi and left it there.

“When I pulled him out there wasn’t the usual spark, but what a horse he’s been to me.

“At least I got one on the night and can go and have a nice cold beer now.”

Of Algiers, Ed Crisford said: “He ran with great credit. James gave him a beautiful ride. He jumped well and turning in I thought we had it in the bag, but the last furlong he was just treading water a bit.

“Probably he just got outstayed with the tempo of the race, but huge credit to the horse and my team at home and we should be proud. He ran his race there if not better.”



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Algiers win would set World in motion in for Crisfords

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Algiers bids to cap a fantastic winter campaign at Meydan by providing Ed and Simon Crisford with a dream success in the Dubai World Cup on Saturday.

It is three years since Ed teamed up with father Simon to become Britain’s first officially licensed training partnership.

Together the pair have already enjoyed notable highs with the likes of Century Dream, Jadoomi and Without A Fight – but victory for Algiers in this weekend’s $12million showpiece would be by far and away their biggest to date.

Ed (left) and Simon Crisford at Epsom
Ed (left) and Simon Crisford at Epsom (John Walton/PA)

“Just to have a runner in race like this is so difficult, so to have a proper live contender with a good chance is fantastic,” said Ed Crisford.

“If we can run well or go and win this race it would be a dream come true, but I think we’ll have to let the horse do the talking now. We can’t do much more, so let’s see what happens.”

Algiers has established himself as a major contender by winning the first two rounds of the Al Maktoum Challenge on the Meydan dirt by six and six and a half lengths respectively.

Connections had the option of taking in round three on ‘Super Saturday’, while a tilt at the Saudi Cup was also mooted, but the Crisfords elected to keep their powder dry for the World Cup.

“We’re very pleased with Algiers – his preparation has been great,” Crisford added.

“At the moment we’re happy we decided against running in round three. You’ve got to take these races very seriously and if round three had taken even just one or two per cent away from him running to his full potential in the World Cup, we wouldn’t forgive ourselves.

“He’s fresh and well. He’s had seven weeks between round two and the World Cup, he’s done extremely well for it and we couldn’t be happier going into this race.”

While pleased with his stable star’s condition, Crisford is under no illusions about the task in hand.

Chief among his rivals is last year’s winner Country Grammer, who will be ridden by Frankie Dettori and returns to defend his crown off the back of a second successive narrow defeat in the Saudi Cup.

This year Bob Baffert’s charge was narrowly beaten in Riyadh by Panthalassa, who is again in opposition and heads a formidable Japanese challenge.

Crisford – whose father played an instrumental role in the inauguration of Dubai World Cup night during his time working for Sheikh Mohammed – said: “It’s a very solid race and you have top-class horses from around the world. You have last year’s winner, the Saudi Cup first and second, the Saudi Cup winner from two years ago (Emblem Road) and some proper dirt horses from Japan.

“It is a very deep field, but we’re right up there on ratings and the way he’s been winning, albeit against local horses, has been very impressive.

“He’s drawn in stall 13, but the first three in the betting are very wide in 13, 14 (Country Grammer) and 15 (Panthalassa), so there should be a lot of pace outside.

“Our horse has won twice on the track, so we know he goes on that dirt and that counts for a lot.”



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Dettori turns to Country Grammer for fairytale farewell to Dubai

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As he prepares for his final Dubai World Cup ride on the 2022 winner Country Grammer, the magnitude of the occasion this weekend will not be lost on Frankie Dettori.

With so many special Dubai moments adorning his glittering record, the Italian will be seeking a fifth triumph in the $12million spectacular aboard a horse he says “is all heart and will run to the end”.

Dettori’s first World Cup victory came aboard Dubai Millennium in the 2000 renewal, adding further successes with Moon Ballad (2003) and Electrocutionist (2006) at the race’s original venue of Nad Al Sheba before it moved to Meydan in 2010.

Having enjoyed a long association with Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation, Dettori has seen the race’s growth in stature first hand and ranks his inaugural winner as the best he has partnered.

Dubai Millennium was Dettori's first World Cup winner
Dubai Millennium was Dettori’s first World Cup winner (Martyn Hayhow/PA)

He said: “I worked for Godolphin for 18 years and spent many months with my wife and with my kids here as they were growing up.

“I’ve seen it develop from Cigar at the first World Cup at Nad Al Sheba to this impressive course with its fantastic grandstand that Sheikh Mohammed created.

“Dubai Millennium is the best horse I’ve ridden. Now I’m not riding for Godolphin, but there are so many great memories.”

Dettori teams up with the Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammer for a second successive year, having come in for the winning ride when Flavien Prat opted to partner eventual runner-up Hot Rod Charlie 12 months ago.

Despite suffering from jet lag, Dettori rode the horse in work at 4am in midweek and is full of hope of a title defence despite a high draw in stall 14, with only habitual front-runner Panthalassa on his outside.

Country Grammer was beaten three-quarters of a length by that Japanese-trained contender on his latest start in the Saudi Cup, but the extra furlong here is a factor in his favour.

Dettori said: “Last year we thought Life Is Good was unbeatable, but at the four (hundred metre) pole he collapsed.

“This time it won’t be easy from the 14 draw and it is a competitive race, but one thing for sure is that Country Grammer is all heart and I know he will run to the end. I can’t say a bad word about this horse because he’s all guts.”

Country Grammer has shown a tendency to hit a flat spot and get outpaced midway through his races, and Dettori added: “In the San Antonio he got outpaced, but he doesn’t know how to give up.

“Right now, I’m just thinking about getting the job done on him.”

Dettori produced a brilliant ride aboard Trawlerman at York last year
Dettori produced a brilliant ride aboard Trawlerman at York last year (Mike Egerton/PA)

Dettori also rides for Baffert aboard Worcester in the UAE Derby and Hopkins in the Golden Shaheen, while Caspar Fownes’ Senor Toba is his mount in the 12-furlong Sheema Classic and Raaed, trained in Saudi Arabia, is his Al Quoz Sprint hope.

His old ally John Gosden – now training in partnership with son Thady – has two challengers, with Lord North bidding for a third Dubai Turf verdict and Ebor winner Trawlerman, who benefitted from an excellent Dettori ride in winning at York last year, going for glory in the Dubai Gold Cup after finishing down the field in Riyadh last month.

The rider said: “I expect Trawlerman to improve from his last run, then there are Bob Baffert’s three on the dirt which is their bread and butter.

“I rode Lord North on the training track on Thursday morning and he’s in good form ahead of the Turf. I’ve also picked up a ride for Caspar Fownes in the Sheema Classic.”

Royal Ascot has been a happy hunting ground over the years for Dettori
Royal Ascot has been a happy hunting ground over the years for Dettori (Adam Davy/PA)

Dettori has been plying his trade in America over the winter as the beginning of his farewell tour and expects to return there next week to ride in trials for the Kentucky Derby – although only a “superstar” is likely to prevent him from riding at Newmarket’s Guineas meeting in May.

He explained: “My agent in the States, Ron Anderson, does everything for me, but unless I find a superstar there, I expect I’ll be back in Newmarket to ride Chaldean in the Guineas.

“Then it will be my last Royal Ascot and that will be very emotional, followed by more touring and a return to Newmarket and Ascot in the fall and another Arc.

“After Champions Day, I shall make my way to California and prepare for the Breeders’ Cup. The plan is then to go to Australia or Japan, but I’m keeping all options open and Santa Anita could be (the place for) my last ride.”



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Classic hero Westover hunting Sheema success in Dubai

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Westover makes his return in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic on Saturday, with connections hoping he has made the required progress to build on his three-year-old campaign.

Ralph Beckett’s charge was the winner of Sandown’s Classic Trial on his seasonal bow last term and went on to be a somewhat unlucky loser when third in the Derby at Epsom before setting the record straight with a destructive performance in the Irish equivalent.

However, things did not go completely to plan for the son of Frankel following Classic success at the Curragh.

He raced far too keenly when a well-beaten favourite in the King George at Ascot in July, before being freshened up and ending his campaign with a respectable sixth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Now he heads to Meydan on World Cup night aiming to take the first step on the path to all the top middle-distance contests throughout the upcoming Flat turf season.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him,” said Barry Mahon, racing manager for owners Juddmonte. “He’s a Classic-winning three-year-old and these are the races you have to compete in when you stay in training at four.

“We’re looking forward to getting him going and I think Ralph and his team are happy with him, so we’re hoping for a good run.

“When you are capable of winning Classics at three, you don’t have to improve a lot to be in the mix again in the big races at four and hopefully he is set for a nice four-year-old campaign.”

Both Rob Hornby and Colin Keane rode Westover during his three-year-old season, but the Frankel colt will be partnered for the first time by Ryan Moore in the £3million contest – with Mahon delighted to have acquired the services of one of the world’s leading riders.

Ryan Moore will ride Westover in his Dubai return this Saturday
Ryan Moore will ride Westover in his Dubai return this Saturday (Mike Egerton/PA)

He continued: “Between Australia, Hong Kong and everywhere else, Ryan is a top-class rider. He rides for us when he can and we’re happy to have him.”

The Christophe Lemaire-ridden Equinox, Hong Kong Vase winner Win Marilyn and last year’s champion Shahryar form a strong Japanese hand for the mile-and-a-half Group One.

Elsewhere in the race, Mostahdaf represents John and Thady Gosden following his recent romp in Saudi Arabia, while William Buick is the most successful rider in the race and bids for a fifth victory aboard Charlie Appleby’s Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Rebel’s Romance.

Country Grammer and Frankie Dettori after winning the Dubai World Cup
Country Grammer and Frankie Dettori after winning the Dubai World Cup (Neil Morrice/PA)

It could be a big evening for the Moulton Paddocks handler who is well represented in the Al Quoz Sprint by Super Saturday scorer Al Suhail, has Siskany currently listed as favourite for the Dubai Gold Cup and saddles both Nations Pride and Master Of The Seas in the Dubai Turf.

Frankie Dettori reunites with the Gosden-trained Lord North as the seven-year-old attempts to return to the winner’s circle for the third straight year in that nine-furlong event, while the evergreen Italian teams up with US handler Bob Baffert to ride both Worcester in the UAE Derby and defending champion Country Grammer in the Dubai World Cup.

Currently locked with Jerry Bailey on four victories in the feature contest, Dettori will have the chance to become the outright most successful jockey in the Carnival’s 10-furlong showpiece as he brings the curtain down on his Meydan riding career.



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‘All systems go’ for Algiers and Dubai World Cup bid

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Ed Crisford has given the go-ahead to a Dubai World Cup bid for Algiers following his back-to-back victories at Meydan.

Narrowly beaten by George Boughey’s Missed The Cut in the Churchill Stakes at Lingfield in November, Simon and Ed Crisford’s charge has since made a huge impression in two starts on dirt in Dubai – winning the first two rounds of the Al Maktoum Challenge in dominant style.

Connections had the option of taking in the Saudi Cup on Saturday week, while round three of the Al Maktoum Challenge on Super Saturday at Meydan on March 4 is an obvious stepping-stone to World Cup night.

However, Ed Crisford confirmed the six-year-old will instead head straight for the Dubai showpiece on March 25.

“He won round two very well and the step up in trip on the dirt was no problem, so it’s all systems go for the World Cup,” he said.

“We took him out of the Saudi Cup as we just felt we’d be better off staying in Dubai and aiming at the big one on World Cup night.

“Round three of the Al Maktoum Challenge is on Super Saturday, but I’d say we’ll swerve that and go straight to the World Cup. He’s had two quite good runs in quick succession, so we can freshen him up and ready him for the big night.”

Crisford expects to have a clearer idea of what Algiers will be up against at Meydan after the Saudi Cup is run in Riyadh.

He added: “I think we’ll find a lot out next weekend in Saudi in terms of what horses are coming. The Japanese and the Americans have some seriously good dirt horses and I think it’ll all come to light after Saudi.

“The World Cup will be a big step up for our horse, but he’s the best horse in the UAE at the moment on the dirt and it’s hugely exciting.”

Crisford added that James Doyle, on board Algiers the last twice, will keep the ride.



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Monday Musings: Of The Rising Sun in Dubai

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Plenty of people from the UK still apparently enjoy the experience of Dubai in late March, writes Tony Stafford. A number of my friends and acquaintances, most barely recovered from the bruising four days at Cheltenham – they might baulk at five – were off again for another cash-devouring few days in the Gulf.

They are the same grouping who also find time to contribute to the well-being of the people that own Las Vegas hotels. I always fancied a few days there, but no doubt the funds would immediately run out at the tables and I would need to try to fiddle a replacement flight home without penalty.

The nearest in my lifetime of a similar jaunt was when a school friend, Harry Hillier, a genius who, when he sat his masters’ degree, the rubric asked him to answer at least two of the ten questions on the paper. As the remaining students on his course canvassed each other and revealed they had managed maybe two or three, when they asked Harry, he answered: “Well I did them all, but I wasn’t happy about a couple of them.”

A clever chap, then, but not, as he always conceded, as good as me in our teens at digging out winners. Be it on the horses or on our almost nightly forays to Clapton and other favourites of the many dog tracks in London – more than 20 at the time, I usually had final say on our corporate wagers. He became a university lecturer in econometrics (I’ve still no idea what that is!): at around that time I became Chief Reporter on the Greyhound Express.

My parents – with me – had often holidayed in Ostend, my dad loving the fact the races there in those days went on five days a week and you could walk there from the hotel. Before Harry went off to university and I started my first job, we decided to go there and got cheap flights from Southend Airport.

We had five nights arranged at the sub-budget hotel, but went skint after the first two days, and had to leave, managing to get a replacement flight. I’ve never been back in the intervening almost 60 years and suddenly have the urge to do so. Vegas, Dubai and even Cheltenham, you can keep them. I heard reports of extortionate prices at Cheltenham – someone said £14 for a gin and tonic? – the track obviously trying to get back the losses from 2021. I doubt it was any better value in Meydan.

In most years over the past two decades, all the invading hordes of UK punters needed to wrest back some of that cash at Meydan was to follow the overwhelming power of the home team. Surely Charlie Appleby, champion trainer in the UK for the first time in 2021, would provide them with the requisite winners as usual.

But for once the royal blue of Godolphin did not pass the post in front even once in the seven championship races. The die was soon cast by Charlie and William Buick’s two bankers: Manobo in the two-mile Gold Cup, a 9-4 on flop, was followed 40 minutes later when Man Of Promise, 10-11 in the Al Quoz Sprint, could do no better than third to a couple of Irish and UK challengers.

Ado McGuinness’s 14-1 shot A Case Of You under Ronan Whelan, got the better of the Richard Hannon-trained Happy Promise (20-1). Two more Appleby runners, the Frankie Dettori-partnered Naval Crown who finished fourth, and the team’s second string and race second favourite, Creative Force, who finished 14th of 16 completed their unsuccesful challenge.

Once again on the world stage, the Japanese were out in force, their Stay Foolish, ridden by Christophe Lemaire, outstaying the perceived as unbeatable Manobo, to follow up trainer Yoshito Yahagi’s 66/1 shocker Bathrat Leon in the opening Group 2 Mile.

Manobo, who had so entranced the Racing TV experts when winning his trial for the big race recently, probably still has plenty to offer when returning to Newmarket this summer, but his defeat must have been a severe shock for Sheikh Mohammed as well as his trainer and jockey.

The best performance, Manobo apart, from an Appleby runner was Yibir’s second place behind another Japanese, Shahryar in the Sheema Classic over a mile and a half on the turf track. Christian Demuro had the mount here and the 13/2 shot bravely held off Yibir’s challenge.

Fourth, with Dettori in the saddle deputising for injured regular rider Martin Dwyer, was the William Muir and Chris Grassick runner Pyledriver, beaten a length having looked booked for second 100 yards from home when Yibir started his late rally.

Having won his last three 2021 starts in the Great Voltigeur at York, an Invitation race at Belmont Park and finally the Breeders’ Cup Turf, this was an excellent comeback run by Yibir, but with no feasible representative in a World Cup which was left to the devices of the Americans, the home team’s uncharacteristic blank would have been a severe blow.

Having won the Sprint it was Japan’s turn again two races later, when the 12-1 shot Crown Pride collected the UAE Derby, a Group 2 race over one mile one furlong for three-year-olds on the dirt, under Australian jockey Damian Lane. Saeed Bin Suroor, who had plenty of runners on a card he had often dominated in the days before Charlie’s pre-eminence within the team, saddled the third placed Island Falcon at 33-1.

The unexpected happening in that race was the performance of Bob Baffert’s Pinehurst, returning with another long journey to the Middle East from California following his triumph four weeks earlier in the Saudi Derby over a mile in Riyadh. Starting 7-4 favourite that day, he battled well to land the massive prize.

Here he was a 4-1 joint favourite for a big-money follow up, but obviously went wrong, trailing the field home as a tailed-off last of 16. Baffert, though, would enjoy the last laugh at the meeting, but first let’s deal with a fourth Japanese success.

Their horses were to the fore at the Breeders’ Cup and in Saudi Arabia and, in between the triumphs of Bathrat Leon, Stay Foolish, Crown Pride and Shahryar, front-running Panthalassa (8/1) had to share the honours in the Dubai Turf. He was joined on the line in the one mile, one furlong contest by the Gosdens’ money-spinner Lord North (100-30).

Yet another Japanese, 28-1 shot Vin Du Garde, finished fastest of all a nose behind the dead-heaters. Two more UK runners, multiple Group 1-winning filly Saffron Beach (Jane Chapple-Hyam) and William Knight’s Sir Busker were respectively fourth and fifth, picking up plenty of place money. In Sir Busker’s case, the $150,000 greatly exceeded what he would have earned had he carried out his alternative role and run in and won Saturday’s Lincoln Handicap on the opening day of the 2022 turf season.

Baffert’s day in the sun arrived courtesy of Country Grammer. Having been caught late on by 50-1 home-trained Emblem Road in the Saudi Cup last month, he became the underdog defeating the hitherto regarded as best in the world dirt runner in the mile and a quarter Dubai World Cup.

Life Is Good had won five of his six races before Saturday and the Todd Pledger representative started the 8/13 favourite but ended only fourth, his stamina patently failing him on this first attempt at beyond nine furlongs. Now Country Grammer has total earnings of more than £8 million, but still trails a good way behind Mishriff (£11million-plus) who finished last in the Saudi race he won 12 months earlier.

Back home, everyone and especially the bookmakers, expected William Haggas to collect another Lincoln Handicap with the front two in the betting and another lively outsider to represent him. The third string Irish Admiral, at 22/1, was fourth to the Mick Channon-trained 28-1 shot Johan, who won nicely, with 3/1 favourite Mujtaba only 12th and heavily-backed Ametist finishing last of the 22 runners.

Ironically, Johan had been in the Haggas stable until last autumn when owner-breeders Jon and Julia Aisbitt decided a change of scenery was in order. Channon traditionally has his team in trim for the start of the season even though son Harry declared after the win: “It’s colder at West Ilsley than up here!”  Imagine what Mick will do when they come in their coats!

- TS



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