Favourite Arrogate faces Awardee, Lani challenge
dubai — Arrogate, fresh from wins in the Travers Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Pegasus World Cup, undoubtedly goes into the Dubai World Cup on Saturday as the favourite. But the Juddmonte Farm’s colt could face stiff challenge from Awardee and Lani.
“I know how difficult it is to beat horses like Arrogate so I gave my staff instructions after the race on Super Saturday to give intensive training to Lani and Awardee,” said Mikio Matsunaga at the Meydan Grandstand.
The 49-year-old Japanese trainer has planned a two-prong attack for the big night. “Their racing styles are pretty different so I want Awardee to put some pressure on other horses and Lani to stay behind and see what will happen.”
According to Matsunaga, Awardee is more consistent while Lani has the potential to win.
Both horses trained at the Meydan on Wednesday morning and Matsunaga said he was happy with them. “Both of them trained very well just as how I had planned so I’m happy with the way things are going.” Lani had won the UAE Derby last year and stands a good chance of performing an encore.
“Lani was not 100 per cent fit last time but luckily the field was small and although it was a big win, it was not a big surprise,” added Matsunaga.
“After his victory in the UAE Derby he went straight to the United States to compete in all three races in the Triple Crown. Unfortunately he didn’t get any wind in the races but he showed his ability and that made us very happy.
“After that he had a spell back home in Japan in the summer season and in the autumn he ran three races but as you know his temperament is not so easy, he is a handful horse, not always willing to run so the three runs in the autumn season didn’t go very well.
“But he has physically improved since then so we decided to bring him back to Dubai to run in the Round 3 of the Maktoum Challenge which he had run after a three-month spell. He was not 100 per cent at his peak at the time but luckily for him he didn’t suffer any damage and has showed tremendous improvement since then so I’m confident this time.
“As far as Awardee is concered I understand that he needs to be 100 per cent or probably more, to give competition to the field this time, but fortunately for me Awardee is not as tough a horse as Lani to train, so we are lucky to have two horses to get a chance at winning.”