Godolphin Colt Romps in UAE Derby Prep

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It looks as though Godolphin's main hope for the Kentucky Derby will be a colt who will have only three career starts. Inamorato, a maiden winner at Hollywood Park last July in his career debut, romped by 6 lengths in Saturday's Al Bastikiya Prestige Stakes at Nad al Sheba. The race is a prep for the 1 1/4-mile UAE Derby on March 29.

The son of Tale of the Cat led every step of the way, covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.71. Victory Moon finished second, 12 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Rahaf. Two other Godolphin starters – Anasheed and Old Latin – finished fifth and 10th, respectively.

"Inamorato has been showing so much speed at home and has so much potential," Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said. "We were very confident that he could win tonight and he will go to the UAE Derby. He is one of our entries in America's Triple Crown races. He has done nothing wrong and is giving all the right signals.

"He only raced once last season in America because he had a tickly shin and he was given plenty of time to develop and mature. Hopefully, the fruits of that patience will be seen in future months. We have had some very good three-year-olds running here in previous years and hopefully he will match up with the best of them."

Inamorato, who is out of the No Robbery mare, Be My Sweetheart, was purchased for $165,000 as weanling at the 2000 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale. Trained by Eoin Harty last year, he broke his maiden by a half-length over Outta Here in 1:04 1/5 for 5 1/2 furlongs. He has since been turned over to Saeed bin Suroor.

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