Godolphin homebred Desert Wisdom (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was plucked out of the Racing In Dubai Horses-In-Training Sale in September by Hassan Saleh Al Hammadi for AED70,000, having been gelded after being beaten double-digit margins in a pair of starts for trainer Charlie Appleby in Britain earlier in the season, and the 4-year-old continued his class ascent on Saturday with a win in the G3 Burj Nahaar, the local stepping stone to the G2 Godolphin Mile in three weeks' time.
The chestnut won his local debut at Jebel Ali on Dec. 24 and was runner-up in a pair of conditions races over this track and trip before fading to ninth behind Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G3 Jebel Ali Mile on Feb. 12. The Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Algiers was among four scratches here.
Though he broke well on the rail Desert Wisdom was not rushed into the hot pace by Adrie de Vries, and they sat four lengths off the lead and buried on the fence as the field headed into the turn. They initially appeared to be swamped by rivals taking the overland route, but de Vries remained patient, not getting into his mount until they had passed the quarter pole. Desert Wisdom proved to have more in the tank than Mubakker (Speightstown), who was rallying on the outside, and hit the line 1 1/2 lengths the best.
Pedigree Notes
Desert Wisdom is the second stakes winner for the former Andre Fabre-trained Tulips (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who also produced last year's GI Natalma S. winner Wild Beauty (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for Charlie Appleby, and the G3 UAE Oaks second Swift Rose (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) for Saeed bin Suroor. Tulips herself won the Listed Prix Ceres and was twice Group 3 placed. She is a granddaughter of the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Cherokee Rose (Ire) (Dancing Brave). Tulips has a yearling colt by Frankel.
Saturday, Meydan, Middle East
BURJ NAHAAR (SPONSORED BY EMIRATES SKYCARGO)-G3, $250,000, Meydan, 3-5, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 1600m, 1:37.17, ft.
1–DESERT WISDOM (GB), 126, g, 4, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Tulips (Ire) (SW & MGSP-Fr, $150,804), by
Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Hint of Spring (GB), by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Cherokee Rose (Ire), by Dancing Brave
1ST STAKES WIN. O-Hassan Saleh Al Hammadi; B-Godolphin
(GB); T-Ahmed Al Shemaili; J-Adrie de Vries. $150,000. Lifetime
Record: 7-2-2-0, $191,512. *1/2 to Swift Rose (Ire) (Invincible
Spirit {Ire}), GSP-UAE; and Wild Beauty (GB) (Frankel {GB}),
GISW-Can & GSP-Eng, $187,904. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mubakker, 126, g, 6, Speightstown–Ready To, by More Than
Ready. ($500,000 yrl '17 KEESEP) O-Shadwell; B-WinStar Farm
LLC (KY); T-Doug Watson. $50,000.
3–Tuz, 126, g, 5, Oxbow–Suede Shoe, by Pulpit. ($7,000 yrl
'18 KEESEP) O-Dakki Stable; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Bhupat
Seemar. $25,000.
Margins: 1HF, 3/4, HD. Also Ran: Imperial Empire (GB), Strongconstitution, Royal Mews (Fr), Alkaamel (GB), Golden Goal (Ire), Mouheeb, Soft Whisper (Ire), Erzindjan (Ire). Scratched: Algiers (Ire), Celtic Prince (GB), Duca Di Como (Ire), Down On Da Bayou.
Click for the Racing Post result. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
