By Tom Frary
Last seen winning the G3 Zetland S. in commanding fashion at Newmarket in October, Godolphin's Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}–Dubai Rose {GB}, by Dubai Destination) furthered his Derby claims with a return win in Friday's G3 Sandown Classic Trial. Sent off the 5-6 favourite for the 10-furlong blue riband prep, the €600,000 Arqana Deauville August graduate was quickly to the fore under William Buick and already held a clear advantage at the top of the straight. Never seriously troubled from there, one of the key Derby hopefuls for Charlie Appleby maintained the gallop to score by 3 1/4 lengths from Macduff (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
Appleby's assistant Alex Merriam said, “He has got to be in the Derby mix now and obviously there are a few other irons in the fire, but I suppose he has to be the main one at the minute. We'll see how he comes out of the race and if he goes anywhere, it will probably be Chester–the Dante is a bit close to Epsom. I think experience-wise, as you can see there, he's quite professional already. We've not had a Dubawi win the Derby yet, but fingers crossed we will get there eventually.”
William Buick was impressed. “He is very straightforward and he showed that last year. He just kept on improving last year, so let's hope he can keep doing the same. Charlie was very keen to go forward today but we were also very happy to sit off the pace if there was a strong pace. As it turns out, he has a big stride and he likes to use it and he changed gear two and a half out and attacked the hill, so it was a very nice performance.”
Ralph Beckett said of Macduff, “He's a very straightforward horse and Rossa [Ryan] felt he had enough in the tank to tackle the winner, but the ground just counted against him. He does have a sort of fast-ground pedigree, so that ties in. We'll see how he trains in the next few weeks and Barry [Mahon] is not keen to rule out Epsom and neither am I. We'll see how he trains in the coming weeks and how the trials go and then see how we feel about it.”
Pedigree Notes
Dubai Rose, who captured the Listed Kolner Stuten-Trophy as well as the Swiss Derby over a mile and a half, is also responsible for the dual G2 Prix de Royallieu winner and G1 Prix Vermeille third The Juliet Rose (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), Dubawi's listed-winning Everest Rose (GB) and the dual listed-placed Pocketfullofdreams (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). She is kin to the G2 Pretty Polly S. winner Hanami (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), whose progeny include the G2 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and G3 Ballysax S.-placed Regent Street (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Among Dubai Rose's other half-siblings is another German listed scorer in Hernando's Soho Rose (Ire), who produced the G1 Prix de Royallieu heroine Sea La Rosa (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and her G2 Great Voltigeur S. and G3 Bahrain Trophy-winning full-brother Deauville Legend (Ire), as well as the group 3-placed Dean Street Doll (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Her 2-year-old colt Orageux (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) was sold to Blandford Bloodstock for €660,000 at last year's Deauville August Sale.
Some seriously smart horses have taken the @bet365 Classic Trial over the years – might we have just seen another Premier League performer in @godolphin's Arabian Crown? He looks a right prospect… pic.twitter.com/IzEoNOA7Ns
— Sandown Park (@Sandownpark) April 26, 2024
Friday, Sandown, Britain
BET365 CLASSIC TRIAL-G3, £85,000, Sandown, 4-26, 3yo, 9f 209yT, 2:12.61, g/s.
1–ARABIAN CROWN (FR), 129, c, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Dubai Rose (GB) (SW-Ger), by Dubai Destination
2nd Dam: Russian Rose (Ire), by Soviet Lad
3rd Dam: Thornbeam, by Beldale Flutter
(€600,000 Ylg '22 ARAUG). O-Godolphin; B-GB Partnership (FR); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £48,204. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-1, $139,761. *1/2 to The Juliet Rose (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), MGSW & G1SP-Fr, $554,634. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Macduff (GB), 129, c, 3, Sea The Stars (Ire)–Present Tense (GB), by Bated Breath (GB).
1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £18,275.
3–Remaadd (Ire), 129, c, 3, Gleneagles (Ire)–Oojooba (GB), by Monsun (Ger).
1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-Godolphin (IRE); T-William Haggas. £9,146.
Margins: 3 1/4, HF, HD. Odds: 0.83, 5.50, 8.00.
Also Ran: Portland (Ire), Under The Sun (GB), War Rooms (Ire), Dunstan (Ire), Prince Rasam (GB). Scratched: Matsuri (GB).
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