Furia Cruzada in top gear to mix it up with the boys
dubai — There are just a handful of mares and fillies, eight to be precise, who have contested in the richest race in horse racing — the Dubai World Cup.
Larrocha, Hokuto Vega, Borgia, To The Victory, Aquareliste, Red Desire, Buena Vista and Royal Delta have mixed it up with the big boys, over the years. But none have been able to disturb the the order of the men.
But as the 22nd renewal of the Dubai World Cup plays out on Saturday night, Furia Cruzada will be hoping to be first at the winning post of the Meydan Racecourse, and with it, break the hegemony.
Although a long shot, so to say, veteran trainer Frenchman Erwan Charpy believes she will be in there, asking for a fight. “We are not running to be a participant and we will give it a go,” Charpy said at the Meydan Racecourse on Wednesday morning.
“She’s not afraid of keeping her place in the pack,” he added.
She won’t just be making the numbers, most definitely. Furia Cruzada comes in with a solid reputation. She was Champion Mare in Chile as well as Argentina. She has three wins at the top level in South America, which means she’s adept on dirt, the surface they will be racing on Saturday night.
Furia Cruzada also finished second to Godolphin’s Usherette at Royal Ascot in June last year and had won Round 2 of the Al Maktoum Challenge Group 2 last month. Coming as it did on her UAE debut at the Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan, it was impressive stuff from the five-year-old.
“She’s a lovely mare, you know. She’s been in many different countries, been Champion Mare in Chile, in Argentina, and then moved to England and ran really good races in England, ran well at Royal Ascot,” a proud Charpy boasted. “On the dirt, she truly deserves to try her luck against the boys,” he added.
Charpy did admit it will be tough against the boys but he did expect a good run from her.
“Obviously, it is a big task to ask but you know, she’s very game, she handled the track well. I don’t think she is going to create a big upset but I’m hoping for a big run,” he said.
Like always, the Dubai World Cup has attracted stellar fields across the nine-race card and Charpy, who has been on the UAE racing scene for a long time, likened UAE to the United Nations, and gave his team as an example.
“This is typical Dubai. Chilean mare, owner by an owner in Uzbekistan, with an Italian jockey and
We are not running to be a participant and we will give it a go... she is not afraid of keeping her place Erwan Charpy
a French UAE-based trainer,” Charpy pointed out.
Furia Cruzada is Chilean, is owned by Uzbekistan’s Avaz Ismoilov and Antonio Frescu is the man entrusted with jockey duties.
“The UAE is like the United Nations. That’s what the World Cup is and that’s what His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, always wanted, the World Cup being a gathering point of the best horses from all over the world,” he said.