UAE Derby

Trainer Steve Asmussen sent his GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks hopefuls out to work at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Derby contender Epicenter (Not This Time) worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 (3/4), while Oaks hopeful Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) went the same distance in a bullet 1:11.80 (1/4). With exercise rider Wilson Fabian in the saddle, Echo Zulu broke to the inside of regular workmate King Ottoman (Curlin), who was ridden by former jockey Eddie Martin, Jr. Echo Zulu worked through eighth-mile fractions of :12.20, :23.80, :35.60...

Seven 3-year-olds, headed by recent G2 UAE Derby runner-up Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front), have been supplemented to the 2022 Triple Crown series for a fee of $6,000 prior to the late closing date this past Monday, Mar. 28. Owned by Michael and Negar Burke, Summer Is Tomorrow is a two-time winner from seven starts in Dubai, having won a Feb. 25 allowance by 8 1/4 lengths going seven furlongs prior to his effort in the UAE Derby, in which he set the pace and was run down late by...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- There is seemingly very little Japanese horses cannot accomplish these days. Four weeks after scooping four races at a variety of distances and on both surfaces in Saudi Arabia, Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) made it three wins on the Dubai World Cup undercard--with the possibility of even better to come--with a determined defeat of pacesetting Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front) in the $1-million G2 UAE Derby as night began to take hold at Meydan Racecourse. Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) struck for...

Godolphin's Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the G2 UAE Derby in March, will be forced to miss Saturday's GI Belmont S. due to an infection in a hind leg, according to a tweet from Godolphin Tuesday morning. "We hope this is only a minor setback and we look forward to seeing him back on the racecourse in the near future," the tweet read. With his UAE Derby victory, Rebel's Romance had qualified into the field for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, but connections decided to bypass that...

Godolphin's G2 UAE Derby winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will bypass the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby and instead target the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, the GI Belmont S. on June 5. Rebel's Romance, who is ineligible for the European Classics as a gelding, had been assured a spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs after earning 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his 5 1/2-length UAE Derby win on Mar. 27. Godolphin has two other colts in the current top 20 by Kentucky Derby...

Any discussion of the world's leading turf sires must include Darley in Europe's Dubawi (Ire), but for all the success he has had with his runners on the grass, his strike rate on the dirt--particularly in Dubai--is nothing short of stunning. The sire of World Cup winner Prince Bishop (Ire) (and Monterosso {GB} on the Tapeta), Dubawi has also accounted for such horses as Hunter's Light (Ire), Benbatl (GB) and Mubtaahij (Ire). The latter took out the 2015 UAE Derby, and as the sun began to set Saturday at Meydan,...

Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup may lack the star power of past renewals, but with 14 runners signed on from six countries for the race's 25th renewal it is nonetheless a fascinating event that has the potential to crown a new headliner, the most obvious being Godolphin's American shipper Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper). Trained by Michael Stidham, Mystic Guide broke his maiden by five lengths at second asking last March, and despite the American Triple Crown being re-arranged by the Covid-19 pandemic connections took a patient approach. Mystic Guide picked...

Panadol was an eye-catching 7 3/4-length debut winner going a mile at Meydan on a non-carnival card on Feb. 13, and he employed the same tactics in his second start and stakes debut on Saturday by going to the lead and never looking back. Breaking on terms from the extreme outside barrier, Mickael Barzalona had guided Panadol to the lead by the time they passed under the wire the first time. The advantage down the backstretch was three-quarters of a length while Speight'spercomete (Speightstown) perched three-wide. The stalkers began to...

Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's Mouheeb (Flatter), who extended his record to two wins from three starts when taking last week's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas by a neck, will decline an invitation to the $1.5-million Saudi Derby on Feb. 20 and train up to the G2 UAE Derby, worth $750,000, at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night on Mar. 27. "He will head directly to the UAE Derby and miss the Saudi Derby," Mohamed Saeed Al Shahi, racing manager for Sheikh Ahmed, told Tamarkuz Media. "He came out of the race...

GII Remsen S. winner Shotski (Blame) will be pointed towards the $2.5 million G2 UAE Derby Mar. 28, which offers 170 points towards the GI Kentucky Derby. The bay will work once more at Gulfstream before shipping to Dubai. "He seems in good form, full of himself at the moment. Our primary plan is to keep him here in Florida with the plan to go to Dubai," trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer said. "That's what we're looking at right now. We've been talking about it. We're going to fly out of here...

Hronis Racing's Jasikan (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}) has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in winning three of his five starts to date, the product of some bad habits in the stalls, and connections will certainly be hoping their charge gets off to a better start in Sunday's GIII LaJolla H. at Del Mar. A maiden winner over the Dundalk all-weather in two starts for Mick Halford, the dark bay was last away and had to settle for third to pace-pressing Neptune's Storm ( in his stateside debut in...