Battle Of The Blues

Saturday’s G1 Dubai Dewhurst S. at Newmarket features the kind of 2-year-old clash that does not always get the chance to take place, with Godolphin and Ballydoyle squaring up with the dominant British and Irish juveniles Emotionless (Ire) (Shamardal) and Air Force Blue (War Front) respectively. The former followed a commanding debut score over this trip on the July Course Aug. 7–where he earned TDN Rising Star status–with an easy defeat of the G2 Vintage S. runner-up Ibn Malik (Ire) (Raven’s Pass) in the G2 Champagne S. at Doncaster Sept. 12 and his trainer Charlie Appleby is clear about the mission ahead. “The most important thing is that unbeaten tag, as I don’t want to lose that,” he said. “As he is unbeaten, it puts a different spin on it. It is exciting to have a horse like that on our hands and it would be great if we could win it with a horse of his pedigree. We are not running away from anybody at this level, but I feel that I have the best horse that I’ve trained on my hands and I am looking forward to it. This horse’s presence is fantastic and he is by a great Darley stallion. Whatever he did as a 2-year-old was always going to be a bonus. It would be disappointing if he did get beat on Saturday, but he will be much better at three when he strengthens into that frame.”

Air Force Blue has suffered a reversal, but that came in the G2 Coventry S. over six furlongs at Royal Ascot June 16 and since his second to Buratino (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) there he has registered impressive successes in The Curragh’s G1 Phoenix S. over that trip Aug. 9 and the G1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S. Sept. 13. Aidan O’Brien is concerned that the ground will not dry enough for him to show his best. “The worry with the horse is the ground and getting the trip on that ground, as he is a very fast horse,” he said on Friday. Also from Ireland is the fellow TDN Rising Star Sanus Per Aquam (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) from the five-times winning Jim Bolger stable, although he has to improve on his latest win in the G3 Somerville Tattersall S. over this course and distance 16 days ago. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum has a duo, with Paul Hanagan opting for the Sept. 21 Leicester maiden winner Massaat (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) over the Listed Flying Scotsman S. scorer Tashweeq (Ire) (Big Bad Bob {Ire}). Shadwell’s racing manager Angus Gold said, “Massaat is a horse who has shown great promise so far. When he ran first time out I remember coming away from Sandown thinking he could be our best 2-year-old this season. He was slowly away and ran green and then flew home to finish a close second behind the horse that was touched off in the Lagardere [Cymric] at Longchamp last week. He coughed a bit after that, so we just had to back off him and give him time. He came back and won his maiden very nicely and we’re very much looking forward to running him again. I’m not saying he’s going to beat the first two in the betting and whether he’s up to this level, we’ll find out on Saturday. He could be a high-class horse and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he was a Guineas horse next year.” Tashweeq, who hails from the John Gosden stable, was authoritative in that Sept. 11 Doncaster contest and Gold is hoping he can put up a bold show. “He’s done absolutely nothing wrong and is going the right way,” he added. “He’s won his maiden and a Listed race and he deserves his place in the field and we’ll see if he’s up to it.”