Heartbreak and joy at DWC draw
Mohammad graces Dubai World Cup Post Position draw
Mixed fortunes for Godolphin horses as American challenger West Coast handed unfavourable post
Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Surour remained unfazed regardless of former UAE Derby hero Thunder Snow drawing the dreaded outside post for Saturday’s 23rd running of the $10 million Dubai World Cup (Group 1).
The four-year-old son of Helmet will break from Gate No. 10 on a dirt track that has a well-known draw bias and where low draws have a considerable advantage. However, Bin Surour maintained that he would not be losing any sleep about Thunder Snow having to take on his nine highly regarded rivals from the wide gate.
“I’m not worried. That gate will suit Thunder Snow,” he hit back, at the official Post Position draw at Meydan Racecourse yesterday.
“I prefer the outside that drawing low. Silver Charm won the Dubai World Cup in 1998 from the same gate.
“They will be all going forward at the start, so that will allow Christophe [Soumillon] to get the run and find a good position as Thunder Snow has good gate speed. He knows the track, he knows the horse, so everything is OK,” he added. “Thunder Snow has had a good year, although his run in the final leg of the Al Maktoum Challenge (G1) was a bit disappointing. But I’m willing to put a line through that race.
“With a little luck, he’ll bring his A game to Meydan and run a big race. I’m really looking forward to Saturday,” said Bin Surour, who is chasing an unprecedented eighth victory in the Dubai World Cup.
The large gathering at the iconic racecourse were in for a big surprise when His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, arrived at the venue, for only the second time in the event’s 23 years.
Shaikh Mohammad, who was seated next to American Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is twohanded in the race with favourite West Coast and Mubtaahij, and Bin Surour, intently watched the proceedings, which included an elaborate and innovative draw for the post positions.
Shaikh Mohammad, who is the founder and driving force behind the Godolphin stable, created the Dubai World Cup in 1996 as a global platform on which the very best horses in the world come to compete on every March.
Talismanic, another well-fancied Godolphin runner from France, drew Post 7.
Lisa-Jane Graffard, Godolphin’s French racing manager, said: “The horse trained well on the dirt at Del Mar. He’s very adaptable with a great mind and Andre [Fabre, trainer] always wanted to bring a good horse here for His Highness Shaikh Mohammad and we’re delighted to bring a horse of that calibre to this race.
“I haven’t spoken to Mr Fabre yet no, it could end up being a good number. A lot of the better horses are drawn out wide, I think there will be good even pace across the draw and that’s the most important thing that the horse breaks well and gets a good position early.
“It’s really hard to know but it could have been better it could have been worse. I think he [Fabre] may have preferred a lower number but seven is a good number.”
American Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is two-handed in the race with favourite West Coast and Mubtaahij.
8th Dubai World Cup trophy Saeed Bin Surour is targeting on Saturday
American Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert strongly refuted the reasoning behind Meydan Racecourse’s much publicised ‘speed biased rail’ after his Dubai World Cup (Group 1) favourite, West Coast, drew the last but one gate for Saturday’s $10 million contest.
Baffert, who is seeking a fourth victory in the 2,000-metre contest and the second in a row after Arrogate 12 months ago, said there was no such thing as a ‘bad post’.
“I’ve heard you have to be on the rail here as it’s a speed biased rail, but I think in a race of this magnitude, when you get all of these good horses together, all that changes,” the American said following the official Post Position draw yesterday.
“I don’t think there’s a really bad post when you’re going a mile-anda-quarter (2,000-metre). The horse is more important than the post, so I’m fine with it. I’m looking forward to it.”
West Coast, last year’s Travers Stakes (G1) winner, is seeking to bounce back after a pair of second-place efforts behind Gun Runner in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and Pegasus World Cup (G1) on his last two starts.
“I think every trainer here hopes his horse runs his race and feels if he runs his race, you know you’re going to be competitive,” Baffert continued. “To me, the break is so important, as we saw last year [with Arrogate].
“We have a fast horse. From the outside, if they break a little slow you’re not going to get in trouble. From the inside if you break slow, you’re going to be in trouble.”
Meanwhile, Dallas Stewart’s champion mare Forever Unbridled, winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), drew gate six, while the other American-based runners were scattered over the ten-horse starting gates. Gunnevera will race from three, Mubtaahij five and Pavel eight.
Forever Unbridled will be making her final career start on Saturday, and Stewart said: “The post position should be fine. She’s comfortable, so I’m comfortable. It’s going to be a great race.
“[However] She’s going to need to bring her best race to win this.”
“We realise one thing and that is nothing is going to be easy here. All I can say is that this is going to be one great race. We’ve got a great race horse and she is gonna represent us good,” he added.
“We all know her style. She is very special and she can deliver on Saturday.”
4th
win trainer Bob Baffert is seeking at the Dubai World Cup this Saturday
Gunnevera was a place behind West Coast in the Pegasus and his trainer Antonio Sano said the draw was good for his horse that has a hold-up style of running.
“It’s important we see a lot of pace in this race but not too much speed and distance between horses before the end, so that my horse can come from behind,” he said.
“If there’s a lot of distance towards the end, there is no chance. We hope to have a chance to break in the last 3-4 lengths and that it’s very close, if it’s not close we don’t have a chance.”
Among the locally trained horses, Satish Seemar’s North America, who
has been an absolute favourite with the race fans at Meydan, drew the No 2 gate.
“I am very happy with the draw. This is exactly what we wanted,” said Seemar, who is looking for a maiden
victory in the Dubai World Cup. “We were aiming for one, two or three. Here we have a horse that is about to peak and all indications are pointing towards him peaking on race day. He is perhaps another 30 per cent away from his best.
“Everything has been going just perfect for him. We’ve got everything right in his preparation so far, and now we have the perfect draw.”
Jockey Richard Mullen added: “I’m very happy with the draw. When we discussed it this morning, I said to Satish that anything from one to five would be fine.
“He’s a natural front-runner, so I should be able to go forward.”