Meydan

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, 1-7-21 winner at Gulfstream. Dam: DAZZLING SONG. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN is a 1968 song which became a world-famous hit in a 1970 Santana arrangement, even if it was a Fleetwood Mac number originally. 6th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 1-7, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.42, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN (f, 4, Uncle Mo--Dazzling Song, by Unbridled's Song). Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-2, $41,360. O-Bass Stables, LLC; B-Ramona S. Bass, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. HYPOTHETICAL, 1-7-21 winner at Meydan. Dam: PEUT ETRE, French for 'perhaps', 'probably' (literally: 'it may be,'...

4th-Meydan, Cond., AED183,650, NH/SH 3yo, f, 1400m, 1:26.72, ft. SOFT WHISPER (IRE) (f, 3, Dubawi {Ire}--Placidia {Ire}, by Sea the Stars {Ire}) gave trainer Saeed bin Suroor the trifecta in the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Presented by Longines, as stablemates Last Sunset (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Final Thought (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) followed her across the wire at Meydan on Thursday. The conditions race is a pointer for the Listed UAE 1000 Guineas on Jan. 28. However, the daughter of Placidia's task was made easier with the withdrawal of...

The Racing in Dubai September 2020 Sale is set for Sept. 12 at 6:45 p.m. in the Meydan saddling enclosure. With the start of the Dubai racing season approaching on Oct. 29, 52 horses will be auctioned, 12 of which meet the minimum rating requirement of 90 to run at the Dubai World Cup Carnival. The highest-rated horse in the catalogue is Nordic Lights (GB) (Intello {Ger}), who is rated 105 and won at the carnival in February 2019 for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby. Inspections will take place on...

Just the name Reynaldothewizard instantly conjures up an image of Meydan. The son of Speightstown became a standing dish at the Dubai Carnival, during which he made 25 of his 31 lifetime starts across seven seasons. He was the horse for whom the Emirates Racing Authority rewrote the rules, to allow him to race beyond his ten years, and rightly so. Reynaldothewizard finally bowed out from his long and honourable career in 2018, at the age of 12, with 11 wins to his name including the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen...

If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, Saturday would have been the 25th renewal of the Dubai World Cup. The iconic 2000-metre dirt race (and for five renewals synthetic) has held sway as the world's richest race for 22 of its 24 renewals, first at Nad Al Sheba and later Meydan, and it has produced some sterling results. The TDN's Tom Frary has paid homage to Dubai Millennium (GB) on the 20th anniversary of his victory, and so with that notable performance aside we look back on some of the other...

Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}), runner-up by a nose in last year's G1 Dubai World Cup, will have Ryan Moore in the saddle in his bid to go one better next Saturday at Meydan. Moore rode Gronkowski in his first two starts in Britain in the autumn of 2017, both defeats, but hasn't been aboard him since. Frankie Dettori, who partnered Gronkowski last out in an off-the-board finish in the Saudi Cup, rides GI Belmont S. winner Sir Winston (Awesome Again) in the World Cup. Oisin Murphy, who rode Gronkowski in last...

Four meetings in the UAE, barring Dubai World Cup night on Mar. 28, will be conducted without spectators, the Emirates Racing Authority announced on Tuesday. The ruling comes in accordance to public safety measures pertaining to the proliferation of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. The dates are as follows: Meydan, Mar. 12 Al Ain, Mar. 13 Abu Dhabi, Mar. 14 Jebel Ali, Mar. 20 All races will be contested and regulated in a standard fashion and results will be recorded in an official capacity. Only the horses' connections, racing...

Coming into the G2 Dubai City of Gold on the back of some mixed winter form, Loxley (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) held on stoically to repel red-hot favourite Defoe (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) by a rapidly diminishing margin, claiming his first victory since August 2018. Just a short head separated the pair at the wire after Loxley swept from near the rear of the field off the home turn to pass Defoe, bumping him fleetingly in the manoeuvre. The classy grey recovered swiftly to switch into top gear under Andrea Atzeni...

The unusual trend of ex-British-trained turf horses upping their game when encountering dirt continued on Saturday when Matterhorn (Ire) (Raven's Pass) proved a dominant winner of the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3. The former Mark Johnston- trained 5-year-old had previously shown adaptability on different synthetic surfaces in Britain and he put that adaptability to good use to put up a career best, beating the favourite Military Law (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) by an impressive 5 1/2 lengths. Mickael Barzalona had an armchair ride on the Salem Bin Ghadayer-trained entire and, after...

The first Group 1 of the evening at Meydan brought a trifecta for Charlie Appleby in the Jebel Hatta with the class act of the field, Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}), claiming his second win at the highest level and his third victory since returning to training after his failed stud career. Settled towards the rear of the field by William Buick after jumping from the widest gate, the 6-year-old raced a tad keenly at times but made steady progress around the home turn, quickening nicely once switched outside to...

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...

Doug O'Neill's good run in Dubai continued in sensational style on Super Saturday with an emphatic display by Wildman Jack (Goldencents), who won the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint in a new stakes record time of 1:07.61. A strong tailwind doubtless helped the lowering of the previous track record of 1:08.24, set two years ago by Godolphin's Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), but this was nevertheless a dominant performance from the lightly-raced 4-year-old, who made almost all the running from a favourable low draw to streak to a 4...