The Dubai Races

It really was true, as a lot of people have commented, that the results on Dubai World Cup night had a very international tint to them, with the notable exception of U.S. participation. Japan had a massive turf double in the nine-furlong $5-million G1 Duty Free, won by Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), and the 12-furlong $5-million G1 Sheema Classic, won by Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). Hong Kong-trained Australian-breds scored a double in the two sprint races, both ridden by Brazilian-born Singapore and now Hong Kong-based riding sensation Joao Moreira: Amber Sky (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) won the $1-million G1 Al Quoz Sprint at five furlongs on the turf; and Sterling City (Aus), the first Group 1 winner for his sire Nadeem (Aus), led home a Hong Kong one-two in the $2-million G1 Golden Shaheen at six furlongs on the Tapeta.
Dubai ran one-two-three in the $10-million G1 Dubai World Cup, as Godolphin's seven-year-old Pivotal gelding African Story got up to beat Sheikh Hamdan's ultra-game front-running 5-year-old Mukhadram (a 10-furlong specialist who won the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. and G2 York S. and placed behind Al Kazeem in the G1 Prince of Wales's S. and G1 Eclipse S. last year), with Goldophin's 4-year-old gelding Cat O'Mountain (Street Cry {Ire}), getting up for third. South Africa had the exacta in the G2 Godolphin Mile on the Tapeta, won by the top-class Variety Club {SAf} (Var) over defending champion Soft Falling Rain {Saf} (National Assembly) and also added a second in the G1 Duty Free, in which previously undefeated Vercingetorix (SAf), by last season's Champion South African sire Silvano, ran second to Just A Way. Another exacta went the way of the veteran Darley sire Halling, who sired the one-two in the two-mile turf G2 Dubai Gold Cup. The 6-year-old Irish-trained gelding Certerach defeated the evergreen Godolphin 8-year-old Cavalryman and provided his jockey Jamie Spencer with a double.
There was talk from some quarters during Dubai World Cup week about replacing Meydan's Tapeta all-weather surface with dirt in a bid to attract back American horses, which dominated the World Cup when it was run on dirt at Nad Al Sheba. It is an excruciatingly sad commentary that in an attempt to lure back horses like Game On Dude (Awesome Again), Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) and Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song), who all contested the $750,000
GI Santa Anita H. for not even one-twelfth of the money in Dubai, the racing authorities in Dubai would decide to go back to dirt. It doesn't matter there, because they have only Sheikh Mohammed to answer to, but it should matter a lot in North America, where figures released by The Jockey Club confirm again that the 'kill rate' is near enough double on dirt (2.08 per 1000 starts) what it is on synthetic surfaces (1.22). 'Safety first' is about as convincing an argument to American horsemen (and in this case handicappers) as is 'no race-day medication'. Some would say the two are related, but that doesn't seem to cut much ice either.
One of the most decisive wins on World Cup Day came in the $2-million G2 UAE Derby, run over 9 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta and open to Northern Hemisphere-foaled 3-year-olds and Southern Hemisphere-foaled 3-year-olds, foaled six months earlier and considered 4-year-olds on Northern Time. The Southern-breds have to carry nine pounds more than the Northern 3-year-olds. That doesn't always stop them from winning, but this year again the race was dominated by the Northern 3-year-olds, but most of all by the impressive 2 1/2-length win by Toast of New York (Thewayyouare),  trained by Jamie Osborne for owner Michael Buckley, better known as an owner of jumps runners.
Toast of New York's $1.2-million payday rocketed his sire, Thewayyouare (Kingmambo) a Group 1-winning 2-year-old half-brother to Peeping Fawn (Danehill) (both out of Maryinsky {Ire} {Sadler's Wells}, who was out of Blush With Pride), past even Pioneerof The Nile into the lead among 2014 second-crop sires by progeny earnings (click here). You may vaguely have heard of Thewayyouare. He was bred by a Coolmore partnership and trained by Andre Fabre as a 2- and 3-year-old and by Aidan O'Brien as a 4-year-old. He ran just nine times in all, winning the last four of his five starts as a 2-year-old in 2007, all at 1600 meters (one-mile), and culminating with a win in the G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. But he ran just twice at three, finishing sixth to Falco (Pivotal {GB}) in the G1 Prix d'Essai des Poulains – French 2000 Guineas, and 10th of 20 behind Vision d'Etat (Fr) (Chichicastenango {Fr}) in the 2008 G1 Prix du Jockey-Club – French Derby. Transferred to Aidan O'Brien at four, he ran fourth to Vision d'Etat in the G1 Prix Ganay, then finished last of five behind Casual Conquest (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and was subsequently retired. It's interesting in hindsight that his form at two was at a mile and that he was campaigned, albeit briefly, at around 10 furlongs at four.
Thewayyouare stood his first season at Ashford, for a $10,000 fee, in 2010, but was transferred to Ireland after standing the 2010 Southern Hemisphere season in New Zealand, from which initial Southern Hemisphere crop he has the listed-winning and recent Group 1 placed 2-year-old Prince Mambo. He hasn't even made the first team in Ireland. He's been standing this season for E4,000 at Castle Hyde, Coolmore's number two stallion farm. From his Ashford crop, Insta-Tistics tells us he ranked number 27 among sires with their first yearlings selling, with 10 yearlings sold from 20 offered, at the 2012 sales averaging $28,678. He ranked 41st on the 2013 TDN Freshman Sire List in 2013, with eight winners but no black-type horses.
All that has changed now, and not entirely just because of Toast of New York. Two weeks ago Thewayyouare had a double at Saint-Cloud, both trained by Fabre for Michael Tabor and partners. The 3-year-old colt With Rhythm won a one-mile heat for unraced maidens and the 3-year-old filly Hug and A Kiss won a 10 1/2-furlong conditions race. Plus, last week another 3-year-old colt for the Tabor-Fabre combination, Secret Admirer, ran third to the promising Salai (Myboycharlie) in the one-mile Prix Omnium II. Not very many people saw this developing success story coming, but suffice to say if you see Thewayyouare's name in the news many more times he's going to be moving to the main farm for 2015. He's looking pretty hot, by the way, over Danzig and Storm Cat so far.

Bill Oppenheim may be contacted at bopp@erb.com (please cc TDN management at suefinley@thoroughbreddailynews.com). Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/billoppenheim.