Meydan

Creative Flair (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) had always looked like a promising filly for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby last year at three, and she built on that promise on Friday at Meydan with a first pattern-race win in the G2 Balanchine S. A winner in her second of two starts at two, Creative Flair won on Royal Ascot Trials day before finishing second in the one-mile Listed Michael Seely Memorial S. at York. Creative Flair stepped up to 2000 metres to earn a first black-type victory in the Listed Abingdon S....

The G1 Dubai World Cup was nominated late last season as the next major goal for the Grade I-winning and dual Classic-placed Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), and the 4-year-old will head to that $12-million contest on Mar. 26 a key contender after a five-length victory in Friday's G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 at Meydan. Hot Rod Charlie was caught on the wire last out in the GII San Antonio S. going 1700 metres at Santa Anita, but he had no such trouble in the Al Maktoum Challenge over a...

GISW Hot Rod Charlie Preps For The Dubai World Cup Doug O'Neill's Grade I winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), one of five runners for the GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer on Meydan's Dubai World Cup Carnival Friday card, is easily the highest-rated horse to compete on the day, and he gains the services of William Buick, Godolphin being without a runner in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2. After finishing second at 100-1 in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Hot Rod Charlie franked that form to be one of...

Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) enjoyed an unbeaten European summer campaign last year for Godolphin and trainer Saeed bin Suroor, and he made a seamless transition into his 4-year-old season on Friday with a comfortable win in Meydan's featured G2 Zabeel Mile. A five-length debut winner at Chelmsford City at the back end of his 2-year-old season in 2020, Real World finished second in a Meydan conditions race just before the turn of the calendar before going on to run with credit at the carnival, finishing third at the...

Frankie Dettori has tested positive for Covid-19 and will therefore miss his rides at Meydan on Friday as he self isolates. "I won't be riding this weekend, as I've tested positive for Covid," the jockey said in a video posted to Twitter. "I'm restricted in my room for a few days. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but I've had my vaccine so we should survive. I'll keep you posted, but I'm not going to be doing much anyway." The Saeed bin Suroor-trained Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire})...

Friday marks the second week of the Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan in Dubai, and three group races are slated to go ahead, as well as two G2 UAE Derby preps on the seven-race card. Godolphin fields a typically strong hand in the 1800-metre G2 Al Rashidiya Presented By Riviera Beachfront By Azizi on grass, which is an early pointer to the G1 Dubai Turf at the end of March. Aiming for a sixth consecutive renewal, the royal blue silks will be carried by a quintet from trainers-Charlie Appleby...

Looking for her first win since last July, Pevensey Bay (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) marked her return in style, closing with a flourish to earn a career high win in Friday's G2 Cape Verdi S. at Meydan. A hair sluggish away from the gate, Pevensey Bay settled along the inside near the back early as Down On Da Bayou (Super Saver) raced to the front. The pacesetter began to pick up the tempo on the first turn while heading into the final 800 meters. Completely buried along the rail with the pacesetter...

Dale Brennan's Golden Goal (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) indicated he could be rounding into his best form at age seven last year with a second-place finish in the G2 Godolphin Mile. Making his second start since in Friday's G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1, he fulfilled that prophecy with a near gate-to-wire, 1 1/2-length victory. Joining Doug Watson after winning twice in Britain at three for trainer Saeed bin Suroor, the £240,000 yearling Golden Goal made just two starts in both 2019 and 2020, winning once the former season and...

The 2022 Dubai World Cup Carnival lasts from Jan. 14-Mar. 5, Super Saturday and begins on Friday. The 19th edition of the DWCC features enhanced purses and a new group of turf races, the Jumeirah Series. Anchoring the first seven-race card-six Thoroughbred and one Arabian race--is the $250,000 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 Presented by Nakheel, which attracted a field of 14. Meydan veterans abound in the 1600-metre dirt contest, with 2021 G2 Godolphin Mile hero Secret Ambition (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) signed on, one of five for...

A group of eight horses trained by Doug O'Neill led by GI Pennsylvania Derby hero Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) is being aimed at the upcoming Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan Racecourse, according to a tweet from the Dubai Racing Club Monday. The octet is scheduled to touch down in Dubai Jan. 18 and their preparations will be overseen by assistant trainer Leandro Mora, O'Neill confirmed via text Monday. It will be the second time in three years that the conditioner will be represented by horses stabled in Dubai, having...

One Ruler (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), once considered a leading Classic contender for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby, looks to get his career back on track when he steps out in Friday's Zabeel Trophy, a one-mile conditions race on the turf, at Meydan. One Ruler, a homebred out of the former Andre Fabre-trained triple group-winning miler Fintry (Ire) (Shamardal), won the G3 Autumn S. at Newmarket in 2020 and was three-quarters of a length second to Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. He managed only sixth,...

by Alan Carasso Shahama (Munnings), who bolted up by nine lengths on her 1400-metre debut at Meydan Dec. 9, endured a much more troubled passage in Saturday's UAE 1000 Guineas Trial, a conditions event over the same course and distance, but exhibited her considerable class in the final stages to score by 2 1/2 lengths en route to 'TDN Rising Star'-dom. She is the eighth 'Rising Star' for her sire. Off slowly and ridden along from gate five racing over a rare sloppy main track in this jurisdiction, the $425,000...