Desert Debuters: Twirling Candy Son Of Rosalind Can Give Tudhope Another

In this series, we will have a look at American-bred first-time juvenile starters (through the end of 2024) and debuting 3-year-olds in maiden races at the tracks of the Emirates Racing Authority, with a specific focus on pedigree and/or performance in a sales ring. The flagship venue for racing in the United Arab Emirates is Meydan Racecourse, which will host racing predominantly on Fridays, with the exception of Super Saturday Mar. 1 and Dubai World Cup night Apr. 5, 2025. Here are the horses of interest for the Friday program at Meydan:

2nd-MEY, AED165,000, Maiden, NH2yo/SH3yo, 1200m

Jockey Danny Tudhope is off to a fast start in the Emirates this season, with eight wins, and first-time starter AFRICAN CANDY (Twirling Candy) looks capable of adding to that total. The Mar. 15 foal is the latest to race from his dam Rosalind (Broken Vow), dead-heat winner of the 2014 GI Ashland Stakes and later a Grade III winner and Grade I-placed on the turf. A half-brother to MSP Chanceaux (Speightstown), the bay–a running-on fifth and not beaten far after a slow break in an Oct. 30 trial (see below)–was purchased by Willie Browne for $200,000 at Keeneland September last fall and was sold on for €190,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale this past May. The colt's younger siblings have also been well received commercially, as the yearling half-sister by Tapit made $500,000 at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga this summer, while the weanling half-brother by Quality Road sold for $425,000 at Keeneland November.

Also getting home well in the Oct. 30 trial was Undefeated (Vekoma), a $90,000 KEESEP yearling turned $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic purchase who now resides in the barn of Dubai World Cup-winning trainer Bhupat Seemar.

Malhouf (Authentic), a half-brother to SW Kowboy Karma (Kodiak Kowboy), is the most expensive auction purchase in this seven-strong field, having brought $300,000 from trainer Michael Costa on behalf of Jebel Ali Stables at KEESEP last fall. The colt's SW & MGSP second dam Alyssum (Storm Cat) was a daughter of champion Althea (Alydar). This is the female family of Arch, Acoma, Balletto (UAE), et al.