Cocoa Beach rolled to an impressive 5 1/4-length win in the listed UAE 1000 Guineas on the fifth night of the Dubai International Racing Carnival at Nad al Sheba Feb. 8. The victory by Cocoa Beach highlighted a four-win evening for trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
Cocoa Beach, a Chilean-bred 4-year-old filly by Doneraile Court, entered the Guineas off of a second place finish to her highly-regarded stablemate, Fiesta Lady, in a conditions race earlier in the meet. A group I winner in her native Argentina last year, Fiesta Lady, like her stablemate, was purchased privately by Sheikh Mohammed to race in Dubai. Fiesta Lady campaigns for Godolphin, while Cocoa Beach races for Princess Haya of Jordan.
Fitted with blinkers for the first time, Cocoa Beach was still a bit slow to find her stride, as Fiesta Lady broke sharply under Frankie Dettori and went immediately to the front. The pair was quickly joined by Swallow Star and Baby Princess, as Patio and Cocoa Beach followed closely behind.
The field remained closely bunched as the fillies hit the top of the stretch. Fiesta Lady then took command with 400 meters left, and appeared headed for an easy victory. Ted Durcan had Cocoa Beach rolling along the inside rail, however, and he then moved his filly to the outside to have a clear run at Fiesta Lady. The fillies battled for most of the stretch, quickly distancing themselves from the rest of the field. Cocoa Beach finally began to pull away in the final 200 meters and won by a comfortable margin.
Love of Dubai made a belated move to finish third, 11 lengths further back. Final time for the mile was 1:37.66 over the fast dirt course.
Cocoa Beach now has won five of six career starts, with her only loss coming at the hands of her stablemate. She is out of the Edgy Diplomat mare, Visionera, and was bred in Chile by Haras la Obra. The bay or brown filly hails from the immediate family of Campo Marzio, champion two-year-old turf colt in Chile, and Poseida, winner of the Pr 1000 Guineas (Chi-I).
