The Godolphin Racing duo of Desert Party and Regal Ransom finished 1-2 Feb. 12 in the Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-III) at Nad al Sheba in Dubai as both colts continued on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
The $250,000 race was contested over a track rated good at a mile around a one-bend turn and attracted a field of Northern Hemisphere 3-year-olds and Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds. Desert Party defated his stablemate by 4 3/4 lengths as the completed the mile in final time of 1:37.62. Redding Colliery, a Kentucky-bred son of Mineshaft , finished third.
The victory was the second in Dubai for Desert Party, a Kentucky-bred son of Street Crywho defeated Regal Ransom and Redding Colliery in a Jan. 22 allowance in his first start in Dubai. Bred in Kentucky by David Smith and Steven Sinatra, Regal Ransom was sold for $2.1 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Florida Feburary 2-year-old sale. Desert Party, winner of the grade II Sanford Stakes at Saratoga, has now won four of five career starts and has earned $288,467.
Regal Ransom, a son of Distorted Humor , has a win and two seconds in four career efforts.
Both the Two Thousand Guineas winner and runner-up are trained by Saeed bin Suroor, who also saddled Vineyard Haven in the race. Vineyard Haven, runner-up behind Midshipman for an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old colt of 2008, was settled into third behind the early pace of Redding Colliery and Regal Ransom, before fading to finish fourth. The loss was the second in five career starts for the son of Lido Palace, who previously won the Hopeful and Champagne Stakes, both grade I, while trained by Bobby Frankel.