Meydan

The royal blue silks of Godolphin have been carried to victory a record 11 times in the G3 Dubai Millennium Stakes sponsored by Emaar, and on Friday, it is the task of First Conquest (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) to make it a dozen such wins. A debut winner at Newmarket last April, the bay is on a two-race winning streak, having claimed a handicap there in July, before making his 4-year-old bow a winning one in an 1800-metre turf handicap over this course on Jan. 10. "First Conquest won impressively on...

Nominations for Dubai World Cup night at Meydan on Apr. 5 were released this week. Headlining the nine-race card is the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline. A total of 173 horses have been entered, led by 20 Group/Grade 1 winners. The winners from 2023 and 2024, Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and Laurel River (Into Mischief), respectively, have signed on, as did the world's highest-earning horse, Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who drubbed a good field in the G1 Jebel...

The richest horse in the world just padded his earnings with a hefty check from the AED1,850,000 G1 Jebel Hatta over 1800 metres at Meydan on Friday. Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) delivered a strong final quarter in :22.80 to win going away, overwhelming frontrunner--and last year's winner--Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}) at the 100-metre mark to win as much the best. That Godolphin runner went fatally amiss 50 metres from home, tossing rider William Buick to the turf. Poker Face (Ire) (Fastnet Rock...

Previously better known for his inability to finish off his races,  Walk of Stars (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) seems to have put those bad habits behind him, as he well and truly stamped his authority on Friday's G1 Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan, leading home a 1-2 finish for the Bhupat Seemar yard and his legendary sire. Runner-up in last year's G2 Godolphin Mile after looking home free, Walk of Stars was second on seasonal reappearance in the Listed Dubai Creek Mile Nov. 22, but was sent straight into the lead...

Never tried in stakes company prior to Friday's 1000-metre AED850,000 G2 Blue Point Sprint presented by Longines, West Acre (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) skipped home a good-looking winner. The Michael Blencowe-owned 3-year-old gelding steamed past  Ponntos (Ire) (Power {GB}) to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Cover Up (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) lost second by only a nose. The final time was :55.38, a new course record. Ponntos leaped straight to the head of affairs and was moving well for much of this but began to look vulnerable inside the final...

The 1600-metre AED700,000 G3 Firebreak Stakes presented by Longines was all about last year's explosive G1 Dubai World Cup hero Laurel River (Into Mischief) until the last jump. Instead, it was the evenly racing G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest victor King Gold (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) who closed resolutely and claimed the winner's laurels. Breaking a step slowly, the Bhupat Seemar-trained Juddmonte runner rushed up to challenge for the advantage and soon held the baton while pushed by Meshtri (Medaglia d'Oro) with King Gold near the tail of the field. Laurel...

Golden Vekoma (Vekoma) stretched out to the metric mile following up on his sound success in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial over 1400 meters on Jan. 3, wrested command with about a furlong and a half to travel and held off the well-fancied Heart of Honor (Honor A.P.) to take out Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan. Drawn 13 in a full field of 16, the bay colt bounced well enough from out wide and took up a position just ahead of midfield as dirt debutant High Season (GB)...

by Heather Anderson & Alan Carasso Something of an unknown commodity when he arrived from Kazakhstan into the Dubai yard of Doug Watson a little over a year ago, Kabirkhan (California Chrome) announced his arrival on the world racing scene with a barnstorming victory in the 2024 G1 Al Maktoum Challenge (1900m) at Meydan. The flashy chestnut, who bears a striking resemblance to his G1 Dubai World Cup-winning sire, returns for the first time since disappointing in last year's $12-million feature and squares off against an internationally flavoured group. Sent...

Godolphin's Ruling Court (Justify), third in the G3 Acomb Stakes to The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), will point to the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas on Super Saturday in March, according to trainer Charlie Appleby. A five-length maiden winner at first asking at Sandown in July, the bay colt was a €2.3-million Arqana May Breeze-Up graduate. Ruling Court has been training toward his 3-year-old bow in Dubai. "He's done very well," said Appleby of his high-profile charge. "He was a breeze-up horse so we gave him a bit...

6th-Meydan, Cocoa Beach S. (Cond.), AED400,000, NH/SH3yo, f, 1600m, 1:38.15, ft. QUEEN AZTECA (f, 3, Sharp Azteca--Princesa Helena, by Palace Malice) took advantage of a furious early gallop to storm clear late in this prep for the G3 UAE Oaks on Feb. 21. Void of early speed from the inside gate, the blinkered bay filly was content to race at the tail as Arigatou Gozaimazu (Honest Mischief) blazed a trail through the opening 400 metres in an unsustainable :21.54 while chased by favoured Flama Sunshine (Flameaway). Racing against the rail...

Cagliostro (Upstart), who was a stakes winner and twice Grade III-placed after being acquired privately by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing in the spring of 2024, has been sent to Meydan for the Dubai Carnival, where he will be trained by Hamad Al-Jehani. The operation's American representative, Case Clay, confirmed the news via text Monday. Bred in Florida by Lance Colwell and Janice Clark, Cagliostro was originally trained by Cherie DeVaux for a partnership that included her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo, West Point Thoroughbreds, Nice Guys...

The new year has already started well for Spain's leading trainer Guillermo Arizkorreta. On January 4, the 13-time champion notched his 1,000th victory in the country when Liam Norris's homebred Stellaris (GB) (Recoletos {Fr}) won at Pineda.  By now, Arizkorreta should have landed in Dubai where he has already made history by saddling the first Spanish-bred and -trained winner at the carnival with Plantagenet (Spa) back in 2012. The son of Trade Fair (GB) returned to Dubai to win again the following season, and this year his trainer has sent...