Fly Down, who placed in some of America's most prestigious races, including the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) and the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), may not return to the United States following the Dubai World Cup.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov is working to complete a deal to buy Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) contender Gitano Hernando from Team Valor and Gary Barber.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Back in Dubai to defend his title in the $2-million Dubai Golden Shaheen, Kinsale King showed on his first return visit to the Meydan track that he has a new attitude.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Making his first 2011 foray to the Meydan all-weather track on March 19, three-time champion Gio Ponti bounced with contained energy as he jogged once around the about 1 1/8-mile oval.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Of all the 13 American-based horses that traveled to the $26-million Dubai World Cup program, Fly Down, Victor's Cry, Champ Pegasus and I Want Revenge are among those who are the most eye-catching.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) runner-up Sweet Ducky is expected to race in the silks of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov when he starts in the $2-million UAE Derby (UAE-II) on the Dubai World Cup program March 26 at Meydan.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Although Bob Baffert's request for a Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) invitation for his Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) winner Game On Dude was duly delivered by the Dubai Racing Club, the gelding will be staying in his stall.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Kinsale King will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano when he attempts to defend his title in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-I) March 26.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. is hoping to send I Want Revenge and Stradivinsky to Dubai for next month's World Cup night.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Calvin Borel, who won an unprecedented third Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) in four years while aboard Super Saver in 2010, will represent the United States in the Meydan Masters jockey competition in Dubai,
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
WinStar Farm's 2010 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Drosselmeyer, who has been working strongly toward his 4-year-old debut, is being pointed to the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) at Meydan March 26.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
In one of several changes involving horses slated to run on the March 27 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) program, Starlight Partners' dual grade I winner Take the Points has been given a new target, the Dubai Duty Free (UAE-I).
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Ken and Sarah Ramsey will aim to make international history on March 27 when their Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) winner Furthest Land competes in the $10-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Friday, March 12, 2010
Starlight Partners' Take the Points, whose third career grade I victory last month was erased through a stewards' disqualification, shoots for his next big score in the record $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Following Conveyance's game win in the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park, Sheikh Rashid has decided to keep the colt in the United States.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
The connections of Life Is Sweet, who unleashed a powerful stretch run to win the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I), have accepted an invitation to take on males in the Dubai World Cup.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Godolphin's Vale of York is set to return to competition on March 4 in the $250,000 Al Bastakiya, the middle jewel of the United Arab Emirates Triple Crown and one of six lucrative stakes at Meydan.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Already the leading female by earnings in Thoroughbred racing history, Japan's back-to-back Horse of the Year Vodka is in Dubai with a mission to capture the coveted crown as the sport's all-time leading money earner.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Breeders' Cup has eliminated the job of the 27-year employee who has been chiefly responsible for coordinating domestic and international nominations, entries, and horsemen's services for the racing championship event.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Fresh off the glory of winning the Eclipse Award as America's outstanding owner of 2009, the Maktoum family's Godolphin stable is poised to unleash some of its strongest American-based runners at Meydan.
Friday, January 22, 2010In the modern world of speed figures, tracking devices, and sheets handicapping, just about any racetracker will tell you making it into the hallowed ground of the winner's circle might depend more on cats, birds, bugs, peanuts, popcorn, and pennies.
And those are just a few icons of a virtual pantheon of superstitions that many owners, trainers, ...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The first wave of up to 30 American mares booked to Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) winner Raven's Pass is scheduled to reach Ireland on Dec. 20, with two other groups slated to begin quarantine soon prior to their trips.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Even as Deep Impact continued to set a lively pace with many of his foals selling strongly during the final session of the Japan Racing Horse Association select sale on July 16, a hard reality emerged from beneath the flashy headlines.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The electric popularity of Japanese Triple Crown winner and two-time Horse of the Year Deep Impact generated enough voltage on July 15 to lift the Japan Racing Horse Association select sale out of what could have been a dark malaise induced by the nation's sputtering economy.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008Spurred to take action by a troubled economy and the need for more investment in horse racing, leaders of the sport in Japan are seriously discussing opening up the world's most lucrative racing program to foreign-based owners.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Casino Drive, the Japanese-trained colt whose bruised foot prevented him from trying to follow in the hoofprints of his two Belmont Stakes (gr. I)-winning siblings, has entered quarantine in Japan as the first step to returning to the United States.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Even before the Japan Racing Horse Association select sale hummed into action on July 14 with the sing-song chant of the auctioneer, a new era in the Japanese bloodstock market had officially begun.
Monday, July 14, 2008
A classic good news/bad news scenario loomed a day before Japan's key bloodstock market was to open, leaving both buyers and sellers alike wondering how the Japan Racing Horse Association's three-day select sale would unfold.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Moved to a tranquil area away from other stallions and shielded from most visitors, temperamental champion and dual classic winner War Emblem now spends his days in a quiet grassy paddock over looking fields containing grazing mares and foals.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Nearly two weeks after returning to the United States following his record victory in the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), reigning Horse of the Year Curlin resumed work April 21 with a short breeze at Keeneland through a thick curtain of fog.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Together, trainer Steve Asmussen, jockey Robby Albarado and owner Jess Jackson have won more than 8,000 races -- but none even remotely like the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Horse of the Year Curlin seems to have it all, and his racing record more than backs up that assessment. But what is he like to be around every day? What kind of an individual is this sculpted specimen with the fiery red hair?
Saturday, March 29, 2008
No American knows more about the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) from personal experience than Jim Cornes. The Dubai Racing Club official and former assistant to four-time Dubai champion trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has witnessed all but one of the previous 12 runnings of the world's richest race and will be there Saturday to see if Curlin can join the elite group of winners.
Friday, March 28, 2008
As racing fans and participants from around the world gathered at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Thursday for "Breakfast with the Stars," there was one name that seemed to be on everyone's lips: Curlin. People from Australia to Europe to South America to Asia all wanted to see the American Horse of the Year with their own eyes, to gauge how good he might really be before he races for the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) on Saturday.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
American Horse of the Year Curlin was standing in the wash rack in his barn in the quarantine area of Nad Al Sheba Racecourse when the unmistakable sound of an explosion split the air. "We were lucky he was in the wash rack because we could have had a problem if I was walking him," assistant trainer Scott Blasi said of the startling noise.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A day after his last workout for the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), Curlin was ready to do more, said Scott Blasi, who has spent the last month tending only to Curlin, satisfying the colt's every need and keeping him focused on the task that lies ahead.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The connections of Horse of the Year Curlin are determined to give the prepossessing chestnut a chance to create his own legend in racing. His quest for such glory begins this year in Dubai, where he will try to win the world's richest race, the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), as a leap toward shattering Cigar's career earnings record of $9,999,815. Michele MacDonald -- who is covering her 10th consecutive Dubai World Cup -- shares the most intimate moments of this Middle Eastern sojourn, focusing on the people closest to Curlin and the exceptional colt himself, as well as offering a magic carpet ride through the land of Dubai.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Connections of Spring At Last, a convincing winner of the Feb. 2 Donn Handicap (gr. I), have decided to bypass the $6-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) March 29 and aim instead for the $300,000 Carter Handicap (gr. I) at Aqueduct April 5.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Zayat Stables' Massive Drama, third in two graded stakes in California this year, will detour off the traditional Triple Crown trail to take on a tough group of older Southern Hemisphere-breds in the $2-million UAE Derby (UAE-II) on the March 29 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) program.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin worked out Saturday morning in preparation for a race in Dubai Feb. 28. He is being pointed to the March 29 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Horse of the Year Curlin arrived in Dubai the evening of Feb. 17 with "pep in his step," in the words of assistant trainer Scott Blasi, and seems eager to begin an assault on Cigar's all-time earnings record with two starts at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse topped by the $6-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) March 29.
Monday, February 18, 2008Argentine classic winner Joe Louis surged past a tiring Premium Tap and won Saudi Arabia's most prestigious race, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, for Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer on Feb. 15 at Al Janadriah racecourse.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Hope continues to spring in abundance, if perhaps not eternally, at the Shadai Stallion Station in Japan that War Emblem will overcome his mysterious disdain for breeding.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Horse of the Year Curlin is being pointed to the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) March 29 at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse to make his first start of 2008, majority owner Jess Jackson said.
Monday, February 04, 2008
The Jockey Club of Turkey is poised to conclude lengthy negotiations to purchase champion and classic winner Victory Gallop.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Describing the condition of probable Horse of the Year Curlin as "perfect," trainer Steve Asmussen has tentatively set Sunday for the colt's first timed workout since winning the Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (gr. I).
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Nearly four months to the day after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Japan operation earned a rare license to compete on the exclusive Japan Racing Association circuit, the privilege was lost at the end of November.
Friday, December 14, 2007A partnership assembled by bloodstock agent Ben McElroy has purchased grade I winner Gun Salute and intends to send the 5-year-old son of Military to compete in the 2008 Dubai International Racing Carnival.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
West Point Thoroughbreds has decided to point grade II winner Awesome Gem, who finished third in this year's Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I), toward next year's $6-million Dubai World Cup (UAE- I).
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Making his second start in Saudi Arabia since a game runner-up effort to Invasor in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), Premium Tap crushed 16 rivals Nov. 2 in the 2,000-meter Ministry of Culture and Information Cup at Al Janadriah racecourse, winning by seven lengths in 2:01.66.
Friday, November 02, 2007