Meydan

Hypothetical (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) showed improvement throughout last year's carnival to finish second in the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 and fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup, and the 5-year-old continued his ascent on Saturday with a win in the latest renewal of Round 3 to become the 13th Group 1 winner for his first, and Lope De Vega's first top-level winner on the dirt. Breaking prominently from his wide gate, Hypothetical was driven forward by Mickael Barzalona and put his head in front as they...

Godolphin's progressive 5-year-old gelding Man Of Promise (Into Mischief) made a favourable impression when winning the Listed Dubai Sprint by 2 1/2 lengths off a 10-month break on Jan. 28, and he built on that promise in a big way on Saturday when running away with the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint, the local prep for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on World Cup night. Man Of Promise raced prominently on the stands' side rail as the field broke into three groups up the Meydan straight. William Buick was...

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...

G3 Longines Red Sea Turf H. runner-up Sonnyboyliston (Ire) (Power {GB}) is a possibility for the G2 Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan on Mar. 26, but trainer Johnny Murtagh will first see how his charge comes out of his latest effort before making firm plans. A winner of the G1 Comer Group International Irish St. Leger at The Curragh on Sept. 12, Kildare Racing Club's 5-year-old gelding closed up the inside in the Red Sea Turf H. and was a clear second behind Stay Foolish (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) on...

Saturday's G3 Winter Derby hero Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ger}) exited the race in good order and will target the $6-million G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan on Mar. 26. Trainer William Haggas was pleased by the 4-year-old colt's performance, which broke the Lingfield course record for 1 1/4 miles. A winner of the G3 Classic Trial S. at Sandown in April and the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot, Alenquer then completed the trifecta in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris in July and went one better in...

'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings), who ran her career record to a perfect four-for-four with an easy two-length victory in the G3 UAE Oaks at Meydan Feb. 18, is reportedly set to give the Mar. 26 G2 UAE Derby a miss and will instead be shipped to trainer Todd Pletcher to prepare for a start in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks May 6. The news was reported in a tweet from Dubai Racing Channel's Michael Adolphson. A $425,000 purchase out of the 2021 OBS April Sale, the bald-faced chestnut, bred...

It was a Godolphin exacta in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. at Meydan on Friday as Royal Fleet (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), a paternal grandson of the race's namesake, defeated last year's winner Star Safari (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) by a short head. Away without incident, which could not be said for the slow-starting Lucius Tiberius (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the Charlie Appleby trainee was aggressive as the field left the short chute and found an ideal position in a pressing second as Marie's Diamond (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) cut out the...

With the Saudi Cup card taking top billing among this weekend's Gulf action, Friday's Dubai World Cup Carnival card at Meydan has a quieter look than its predecessors in recent weeks, with just one black-type event. Godolphin holds a strong hand in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. named for its 2000 G1 Dubai World Cup winner and contested over 2000 metres on the grass, and its four runners-two apiece for Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor-are headed on ratings by Appleby's 6-year-old Star Safari (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), the...

It was not a completely straight-forward task for 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings), but in the end, her considerable class and talent won out as she ran her record to a perfect four-from-four with a deceptively easy victory in Friday's G3 UAE Oaks at Meydan. Off to an awkward beginning, Shahama was clearly last under the wire the first time around and appeared to be climbing badly into the kickback as Adrie de Vries urged her along. Able to tack onto the back of the pack with 1400 metres to...

'Express' Hoping For a Rebound in Blue Point Sprint The 1000-metre G2 Blue Point Sprint features the return of Acklam Express (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who was a good second in the Mar. 6 G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint last year and third in the Mar. 27 G1 Al Quoz Sprint. Off the board in two races when returning to the UK including a 10th in the June 15 G1 King's Stand S., the bay appears after a lengthy break and trainer Nigel Tinkler is hoping for a reversal of...

Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) may have technically had his finest hour three years ago when winning the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, but it is nonetheless very difficult to knock the form that the 9-year-old has been in as of late. Geoff and Sandra Turnbull's remarkably consistent grey turned back the clock when winning the G1 Jebel Hatta and G2 Singspiel S. at last year's carnival, and he proved in fine form still at Meydan on Friday when repeating in the latest edition of the Singspiel S. Lord...

Azure Coast (Street Sense) was plucked out of the Gainesway consignment at Keeneland September in 2020 by owner Vladamir Kazakov for $65,000, and that has proven to be an inspired purchase with the colt now three-for-three and a stakes winner after taking Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas on his black-type debut. Debuting over a mile in Moscow in September, Azure Coast came home a six-length winner. He resurfaced at Meydan for trainer Pavel Vaschenko in December, dropping back to seven furlongs to win a conditions race over the Meydan dirt...