Burj Nahaar

Juddmonte Farms' recent G3 Burj Nahaar romper Laurel River (Into Mischief) will bypass the Mar. 30 G2 Godolphin Mile and will instead stretch out to 10 furlongs for the first time in the G1 Dubai World Cup, Garett O'Rourke, the manager of Juddmonte's American operation, told the TDN Thursday morning. "It's worth a try. There's $12 million reasons to do it," he said. The homebred winner of the seven-furlong GII Pat O'Brien S. when under the care of Bob Baffert in 2022, Laurel River was favored in many circles for...

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...

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....

Glitters To Shine On Super Saturday Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) may be a former G1 Queen Anne S. winner, but at age nine he has revamped himself as a Middle Eastern star, and he lines up as one of the highlight horses of Super Saturday in the G1 Jebel Hatta S. It has been almost three years since the grey visited a winner's enclosure in Europe, but in the meantime Lord Glitters has won four black-type races in the Gulf region, including last year's edition of this race, the G3...

A packed slate of seven pattern races is set for Meydan's 'Super Saturday' card for aspirants to the Dubai World Cup races on Mar. 27, and headlining the card is the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 over the course and distance of the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup. Last-out group winners Salute The Soldier (Ger) (Sepoy {Aus}) and Secret Ambition (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) are the headliners, but potential distance limitations for the pair of them perhaps levels the playing field. The 6-year-old Salute The Soldier went the furthest...

The G3 Burj Nahaar produced a most impressive winner when Salute The Soldier (Ger) (Sepoy {Aus}) routed the opposition to give trainer Fawzi Nass and jockey Adrie De Vries another major Middle Eastern win. The winner was having his first start on dirt but that proved no barrier to the 5-year-old, who looked a horse destined for greater things when claiming the one-mile contest. Heavy Metal (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) blasted from the gates but was being harried from the start to maintain a prominent position by both Ambassadorial...

Meydan's 'Super Saturday' card on Mar. 7 is set to be staged against the backdrop of an empty grandstand, with the Emirates Racing Authority taking precautionary measures against the coronavirus outbreak. Nonetheless, race fans and pundits will have the chance to take in from afar performances from some key protagonists aiming toward the Dubai World Cup card on Mar. 28 during the evening's seven tailored prep races. The G1 Jebel Hatta, one of two Group 1s on the card, looks to be at the mercy of Godolphin but, with the...