Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed is making sure everything is in place to enable a wartime Dubai World Cup to go ahead and James Doyle could benefit, as long as rain storms don’t become the event’s next big threat.
If it’s not missiles, it’s rain. Dubai is coping with thunderstorms alongside the mortal concerns that come with being in a war zone, but the Dubai World Cup is scheduled to go ahead at Meydan on Saturday with Japan’s Forever Young and world champion Calandagan the headliners.
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed has pulled out all the stops to ensure the races have enough star power to make it worthwhile. There were showy police escorts for horse floats, and, with a mass of Japanese defections, he even sent a plane to Japan to fly in three contenders.
Whether those horse connections could be punished for breaking a travel advisory was discussed in Japan’s parliament on Tuesday. The Minister of Agriculture said the advisory was not enforceable.
Aboard the plane was Sheikh Mohammed’s own Godolphin operation’s Pyromancer, one of the most exciting young dirt track runners in the Japan Racing Association (JRA), and a good pick-up for British rider James Doyle who has six mounts across the card.
Pyromancer is out to collect qualifying points for the G1 Kentucky Derby in the G2 UAE Derby, and won the Jpn1 Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki last time, a race Forever Young won two years ago.
“They told me they think a hell of a lot of the horse,” Doyle told Idol Horse. “I’ve watched his replays and while Forever Young won that race by seven lengths and this fella won it by half a length, I still thought it was a good performance.
“Pyromancer showed good battling qualities and he looks like he’s got all the right credentials for the UAE Derby: he travels, stays and he digs deep. And the trainer’s comments, dreaming about the Kentucky Derby with him, suggest that he’s well above average.”
Four of Doyle’s rides are for his main retainer, the Qatar royal family’s Wathnan Racing, including Lazzat in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint. He defeated Japan’s Satono Reve – favourite for the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday – at Royal Ascot last summer but has been second three times in four winless starts since.
“He put up a huge performance against Satono Reve and I just wonder if it left its mark because he just dipped a couple of times after,” Doyle said. “But what he did in Saudi when second to Reef Runner, I thought was an unbelievable run from the worst draw, he just got worn down late on.
“I had a target on my back there, so hopefully we can gain the revenge we want against Reef Runner down the straight.”
He will partner Wathnan’s Tumbarumba in the G1 Dubai World Cup itself.
“Tumbarumba’s a horse we’re getting to know,” he said of the former American runner who he believes “wasn’t cherry ripe” for his first Meydan run and then just lacked sharpness second-up behind Imperial Emperor.
“He found that sharpness when he was third to Forever Young in Saudi, where he jumped, travelled strongly and hit the line well,” Doyle said. “It’s a tough race again but no reason he shouldn’t be bang there.”
Wathnan’s David Of Athens has been winning up the hill at nearby Jebel Ali but he heads to the G2 Godolphin Mile while the operation’s Make Me King steps up to the G1 Dubai Turf against Godolphin’s British-based star Ombudsman.
“If you take Commissioner King out of the Godolphin Mile, it’s pretty wide open,” Doyle said.
“Make Me King is in the form of his life, but he’ll need to be. Ombudsman is clearly the standout.”
That leaves Giavellotto to face the world’s top-rated horse Calandagan in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic. Doyle sat on the 2024 G1 Hong Kong Vase winner for the first time during morning work in Newmarket on Friday, and feels the horse was unlucky last time when third in Qatar.
“He feels great, he’s a proper horse,” Doyle said. “It’s going to be a tough race and whether he can quite land a glove on Calandagan remains to be seen, he hasn’t done so far but he’s an outstanding horse.”
The question now is how the forecast rain will affect the event, which is usually dry and hot come race day. But in the current political climate, with explosions overhead at race meetings during the past month, everyone will be happy and relieved if the worst thing falling from the skies on Saturday is rainfall.
This Week In Horse Racing History
The second U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox was born at Claiborne Farm, Kentucky on March 23, 1927.
Gallant Fox’s Triple Crown-winning son Omaha was foaled on March 24, 1932, becoming the first and so far only U.S. Triple Crown winner sired by a Triple Crown winner. Exactly eight years later, on March 24, 1940, another Triple Crown winner, Count Fleet, was foaled at Stoner Creek Stud, Kentucky.
Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, the founder of Shadwell whose blue and white colours have been a common sight in Group 1 races around the world since the 1980s, passed away on March 24, 2021.
On March 26, 1943, Assault was foaled at King Ranch, Texas and would go on to win the 1946 U.S. Triple Crown.
The first Dubai World Cup, billed as the world’s richest race, was held at Nad Al Sheba racecourse on March 27, 1996. The race was won by the North American champion Cigar, trained by Bill Mott, who defeated fellow American runner, the Richard Mandella-trained Soul Of The Matter, by half a length.
Reads of the Week
Mark Newnham has had two Derby runners, his first was beaten a short-head 12 months ago, his second won the race last Sunday and David Morgan’s story of this year’s Hong Kong Derby outlines just how important that win will be for the man who is now seen as one of the big-race players on the Hong Kong scene.
James McDonald broke the Australian record last Saturday for the most Group 1 wins by a jockey and Adam Pengilly was there to speak to those within the Kiwi’s orbit and give us this behind the scenes insight into what makes him the champion he is.
Flowing on from Pengilly’s excellent article, Shane Dye’s Idol Thoughts column gives us his perceptive take on McDonald, a person and jockey he has known since the precocious talent was first being noticed back in their native New Zealand. Dye analyses what makes McDonald so good, how Hong Kong improved him, and the influence the brilliant filly Autumn Glow will have on his immediate future.
It’s not too long ago that Jack Callan was running around the playground at Sha Tin in ‘play’ jockey silks. He still has a long way to go if he is to reach the J-Mac level, but as David Morgan writes, jockey Neil Callan’s teenage son is pointed in the right direction and has the right people around him as he targets the champion apprentice title in Britain this year.
Racing Pic of the Week
@kenta11312
There are few more iconic sights in world racing than Yutaka Take crouched low, his hand high on the horse’s neck, whip hand lowered as his mount passes the winning post first. Here the great master among Japanese jockeys is captured aboard the handsomely dappled grey Admire Terra as they win last Sunday’s G2 Hanshin Daishoten. This victory means Take has won a Group race in Japan in each of the 40 years he has been riding, a remarkable achievement for a 57-year-old who has spent a career making the remarkable his normal.
Global Blackbook
This week’s Global Blackbook is focusing on France and the Listed Prix Rose de Mai at Saint-Cloud on Tuesday. The 10-furlong contest went the way of the Jerome Reynier-trained Arkansas who raced towards the rear in the 12-runner field – 10 previous winners – picked her way through her rivals and then stayed on strongly to draw away and win by two lengths.
This was the filly’s first start for Reynier, best known for his handling of Group 1 winners Lazzat, Facteur Cheval and Skalleti. She had previously been in the care of Classic-winning trainer Mario Baretti, for whom she was an easy three-length winner on debut last July.
Arkansas was then sixth in the G2 Prix du Calvados and ended her juvenile season with third place behind the Juddmonte filly Regal Resolve at Chantilly in October. This was a step forward and indicated the daughter of Sottsass should be a player in the three-year-old fillies’ middle-distance division this year. She could be one for the G1 Prix de Diane via races like the G3 Prix Vanteaux and the G2 Prix Saint-Alary. She is from the same family as the high-class fillies Chriselliam, Very Special and Eva’s Request.
Worth noting, too, is Wareeth who defied immaturity to post a 14-length win in a mile novice stakes on the Tapeta track at Newcastle, England last Saturday, suggesting he might be one to rise high in the ratings. Caution is required around such winners in low grade, but jockey Hollie Doyle was beaming with excitement and positive words about the three-year-old Sea The Stars colt’s debut.
What’s Coming Up?
Dubai World Cup Day
Meydan, Dubai, March 28
The nine-race Dubai World Cup card is scheduled to go ahead despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, albeit with reduced overseas participation. Japan’s Forever Young will attempt to add the G1 Dubai World Cup to his wins in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic and the past two editions of the G1 Saudi Cup. Victory would see him pass his old rival Romantic Warrior as the world’s highest prize money earner. The world’s top-rated Calandagan will take on a small field in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, while Godolphin's Ombudsman is the standout in a weakened G1 Dubai Turf. The card also features the G1 Al Quoz Sprint, G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, the G2 Godolphin Mile and the G2 Dubai Gold Cup.
Australian Cup Day
Flemington, Australia, March 28
Birdman has won the G2 Blamey Stakes and the G2 Peter Young Stakes at his past two starts and could start favourite for the G1 Australian Cup ahead of the two-time G1 All-Star Mile winner Tom Kitten and the tearaway mare Pride Of Jenni. The 2000m race has been won by such greats as Makybe Diva, Lonhro, Bonecrusher and Dulcify.
Tancred Stakes Day
Rosehill, Australia, March 28
Aeliana moved to favouritism for the G1 Tancred Stakes after her victory in the G1 Ranvet Stakes last week, with a decision to be made about her participation. She would face last year’s winner Dubai Honour, the British raider who also won the G1 Ranvet and the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2023. Also likely is Vauban, formerly Irish-trained and a Group 3 winner last time. The high-class card also includes the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes, a key lead-in to the Oaks, in which the New Zealand Oaks heroine Ohope Wins will attempt to win her fourth race on the bounce. There is also the G2 Tulloch Stakes, which attracts attention from Hong Kong buyers looking for a good import for next year’s Hong Kong Derby.
Doncaster Mile Day
Randwick, Australia, April 4
The day’s feature is the G1 Doncaster Mile under handicap conditions. All the usual candidates are entered, including G1 Randwick Guineas winner Sheza Alibi and the horse that was second that day, Autumn Boy, subsequently successful in the G1 Rosehill Guineas, as well as Tom Kitten, Linebacker, Gringotts and Birdman. Top-class mares Aeliana and Treasurethe Moment also hold entries.
South African Derby
Turffontein, South Africa, April 4
The South Africa Derby is the final leg of the South African Triple Crown, the first two races being the G2 Gauteng Guineas, won by Splittheeights, and the G1 SA Classic, won by the Gauteng Guineas second Grand Empire.
This story first appeared on Idol Horse as "World Racing Weekly: Pyromancer, James Doyle & Arkansas."
