Al Shindagha Sprint

Juddmonte Farms' Laurel River (h, 6, Into Mischief--Calm Water, by Empire Maker), favored for the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile before being ruled out on the eve of the race, flashed some of the form that saw him win the 2022 GII Pat O'Brien S. with a towering, front-running victory in Saturday's G3 Burj Nahaar at Meydan Racecourse, the course-and-distance prep for the G2 Godolphin Mile Mar. 30. The result represented a complete turnaround from his local debut Jan. 26 when he was an early factor in the G3...

Juddmonte's Laurel River (Into Mischief), last seen running out a 3 3/4-length winner of the GII Pat O'Brien S. in August 2022 for Bob Baffert, has been entered for the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint (1200m) and the G3 Firebreak S. (1600m) on 'Fashion Friday' at Meydan Racecourse Jan. 26. "Everything seems to be fine, we've gotten nothing but good reports from over there," said Garrett O'Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte USA, who confirmed that the 6-year-old stallion will take part in the shorter of the two races Friday evening. An...

Gladiator King has proven a shrewd purchase by Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, the 4-year-old son of Curlin now two-for-two in Dubai, having added victory in Thursday's G3 Al Shindagha Sprint to his score in the G3 Dubawi S. on opening night of the carnival on Jan. 2. Gladiator King was previously trained by Jaime Mejia in the U.S., and he won a key U.S. 3-year-old sprinting contest, the GIII Hutcheson S., last winter before finishing a head second in the GIII Chick Lang S. on the Preakness undercard....