Bhupat Seemar

3rd-Meydan, AED210,000, Cond., 12-20, NH 2yo & SH 3yo, f, 1400m, 1:25.50, ft. FLAMA SUNSHINE (f, 2, Flameaway--Charming Emmy, by Sky Mesa) second to the scratched Arigatou Gozaimasu (Honest Mischief) on her debut in November, led from flagfall en route to a two-length victory in the Shahama Stakes Sponsored by Emaar. Queen Azteca (Sharp Azteca) unleashed a furious rally to take second, 2 1/2 lengths to the good of Taswaheen (Mendelssohn). "She was very professional," said Tadhg O'Shea. "She won a trial around here but was quite green last time....

The Charlie Appleby-trained Measured Time (GB) faces eight rivals on the Festive Friday card at Meydan when he attempts to repeat his 2023 success in the AED850,000 G2 Al Rashidiya Sponsored by Emaar. No horse has ever won back-to-back renewals of the Al Rashidiya, but Measured Time is likely to be a warm order as the sole previous Group 1 winner in the line-up. He followed last year's victory in this race with a first Group 1 triumph in the Jebel Hatta and a fourth-place finish in the G1 Dubai...

It's been nearly a year-and-a-half since Chantal Sutherland last rode. Her career was sidelined May 6, 2023 after a freak accident at Gulfstream when she pulled her mount up when the horse was frightened by geese crossing the track. Sutherland was thrown from the saddle and suffered a very serious injury. She snapped the humerus bone right off the shoulder and with her arm hanging grotesquely it was no longer attached to any part of her body. At time, the 48-year old rider grew so despondent that she feared that...

Dubai World Cup-winning trainer Bhupat Seemar is set to relocate his hugely successful Zabeel Stables to a new location at Meydan. Seemar landed the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup with the Juddmonte-owned Laurel River (Into Mischief), a victory that crowned a memorable season for the trainer given he landed a second UAE trainers' championship title. However, pastures new beckon for Seemar, who explained that his large string will be better suited to the new facility.  "To leave Zabeel with a Dubai World Cup as well as both the trainers' and...

I love Paris in the springtime, sang Ella Fitzgerald, and I'm pretty sure it was a thinly-veiled reference to her secret passion for heavy ground three-year-old maidens at Saint-Cloud. What Classic clues may we glean there? Well, maybe none. But I liked the look of Narkez (Fr), who gave his rivals a six-length walloping in the Prix Comrade last Tuesday, picking up where he left off after winning at Clairefontaine last October. Bred by Nurlan Bizakov under his Sumbe banner, the colt represents that magic Siyouni (Fr)-Galileo (Ire) cross, though...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- When the late Arrogate overcame a world of trouble to win the 2017 G1 Dubai World Cup, many racing fans said it was the best performance in the history of the race. To some, it rates right up there with some of the best performances ever seen. It's entirely possible that Juddmonte's Laurel River (Into Mischief) managed to upstage him Saturday with an absolutely stunning, front-running tour-de-force in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan, a result that even those closest to him may...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Tuz (Oxbow), who like Kabirkhan (California Chrome) was purchased on the final day of the Keeneland September sale and overwhelmed his competition in Russia to earn a call up to Dubai, took a gap at the fence with 200 metres to run and bolted clear to take Saturday's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Nakheel by a record-setting 6 1/2 -length margin. Tuz won three starts at Pyatigorsk Hippodrome by the better part of 50 lengths was making his fourth straight appearance on World Cup...

Five returning champions and one previous champion highlight the prospective fields for the Dubai World Cup meeting to be held at sprawling Meydan Racecourse in Dubai Saturday, Mar. 30. The connections of 106 horses from no fewer than 12 racing jurisdictions have accepted invitations to the eight Thoroughbred races on a $30.5-million program that begins with the $1-million Dubai Kahayla Classic for the Purebred Arabians and concludes with the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup. The main event has attracted a field of 15 that is led by its defending champion...

8th-Meydan, AED175,000, Hcp., 3-8, NH & SH 3yo/up, 1400m, 1:29.95, ft. ELUSIVE TERRY (IRE) (c, 4, Raven's Pass--Bonding, by Violence) gave trainer Bhupat Seemar his fifth win of the evening while maintaining his perfect record at Meydan on Friday. A four-length winner of an Jebel Ali maiden on Jan. 27, the colt jumped a touch slow and was hustled up to contest the early pace. Glued to the rail, he applied pressure to My Kinda Day (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) on the turn. On top at the 400-metre marker,...

4th-Meydan, AED175,000, Cond., NH & SH 3yo, 1900m, 1:58.65, ft. GUNS AND GLORY (c, 3, Gun Runner--Baby Go Far {Brz} {G1SP-Brz}, by Elusive Quality) dominated from the front end at Meydan in his third start on Friday. Once the gates flew, Tadhg O'Shea drove his mount to the front and the duo set a decent pace past the grandstand and into the backstretch. In a very easy rhythm, Guns And Glory set sail for home at the 500-metre mark, and his rivals had no answer, with the bay drawing off...

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...

3rd-Meydan, AED175,000, Nov., 2-9, NH & SH 3yo, 1400m, 1:23.77, ft. FALCON OF ARABIA (c, 3, Speightstown--Lawn Party {SP-US}, by Medaglia d'Oro) made a winning debut over the main track on Friday. The colt led pillar-to-post and coasted home to win by 1 1/4 lengths. He was pressed by Auto Bahn (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) the entire way around. It was 10 1/4 lengths back to the third-place horse, King Of Luck (GB) (New Bay {GB}). "He has to be nice to do that first time," said O'Shea of the...