By Kelsey Riley
Last year's G1 King's Stand S. winner Blue Point (Shamardal) towered above his G2 Meydan Sprint rivals on paper, and he ran to form on Thursday to win eased down by five lengths on seasonal debut. The 5-year-old will now target the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on Mar. 30. He was scratched behind the gate of that contest last year as the favourite after blood was discovered in his nostrils.
Rerouted to Hong Kong's G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize over six furlongs a month later, the 'TDN Rising Star' trailed home last of nine but he looked much more like himself back to five furlongs in the King's Stand in June, winning by 1 3/4 lengths from the highly regarded Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). Back up to six for the July Cup, he was beaten 4 3/4 lengths in seventh and was 2 1/4 lengths off the near dead heat of Alpha Delphini (GB) (Captain Gerrard {Ire}) and Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) when third when last seen in the G1 Nunthorpe S. in August.
Sitting back in third on Thursday as Faatinah (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus})-his closest-rated rival and the winner of a handicap over this track and trip on Jan. 3-set the pace, Blue Point responded when given a shake of the reins by William Buick at the 300 meter mark. He swiftly overtook that rival and was being eased by the time he hit the wire. The winning time of :56.52 was the fastest for the course and distance thus far at this year's carnival.
“He's a nice horse, this fellow,” said trainer Charlie Appleby. “Not having been fully tuned up, he ran well. This horse is going to come forward and come into his own this year. He's a 5-year-old now and he's a professional. William asked him to pick up and he ran a professional race. After this is the Al Quoz. He's not overly exposed, really. Last year, he wasn't over-raced. It's going to be a fun season for him.”
Pedigree Notes
Blue Point is the sixth produce of the Royal Applause (GB) mare Scarlett Rose (GB), whose previous best was Formosina (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), who won the G2 Railway S. and was second in the G2 Mill Reef S. at two. Scarlett Rose didn't have much luck in the immediate aftermath of producing Blue Point, coming up barren the following two years, and her latest progeny are a 2-year-old colt by Night of Thunder (Ire) named Desert Destination (Ire) and a yearling filly by Invincible Spirit. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Thursday, Meydan, Dubai
MEYDAN SPRINT (SPONSORED BY GULF NEWS)-G2, $250,000, Meydan, 2-14, NH3yo/up & SH3yo/up, 1000mT, :56.52, gd.
1–BLUE POINT (IRE), 126, h, 5, by Shamardal
1st Dam: Scarlett Rose (GB), by Royal Applause (GB)
2nd Dam: Billie Blue (GB), by Ballad Rock (Ire)
3rd Dam: Blue Nose (Ire), by Windjammer
'TDN Rising Star'. (110,000gns wnl '14 TATNOV; 200,000gns yrl '15 TATOCT)
O-Godolphin; B-Oak Lodge Bloodstock (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby;
J-William Buick. $150,000. Lifetime Record: 16-7-3-3,
$1,169,210. *1/2 to Formosina (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand
{GB}), GSW-Ire & GSP-Eng, $185,830. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Faatinah (Aus), 126, g, 6, Nicconi (Aus)–Alqwah (Ire), by
Danehill. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum;
B-Shadwell Stud Australasia Ltd (AUS); T-David Hayes. $50,000.
3–Portamento (Ire), 126, h, 7, Shamardal–Octave, by
Unbridled's Song. O-Mohammed Khalifa Al Basti; B-Darley
(IRE); T-Ali Rashid Al Rayhi. $25,000.
Margins: 5, 2, 4HF. Also Ran: Mujaafy (Aus), Rebel Streak (GB), Johann Strauss (GB). Scratched: Roussel (Ire). Click for the Emirates Racing chart. VIDEO.
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