Saturday night fever
SEE YOU AT THE DUBAI WORLD CUP RACES
dubai — The biggest sporting and social event in Dubai — the Dubai World Cup — is just hours away and the cream of the horse racing world have assembled at the majestic Meydan Racecourse.
Like every year, it is a nine-race card, rich in quality, that will play out from Saturday afternoon, with a whopping $35 million on offer, making it yet again, the richest horse race meeting in the world.
Quite obviously, the magnum opus is the $12 million Dubai World Cup — the finale of the night.
Previous editions have seen one horse stand out in the lead-up, but this time, all the 13 contenders who will take to the gates in the 10-furlong affair on dirt, are all worthy of landing the $7.2 million for the winner.
The field is led by defending champion Thunder Snow, with the five-year-old son of Helmet looking to become the first horse to win the race twice and back-to-back. Thunder Snow is saddled by Godolphin’s Emirati handler Saeed bin Suroor, the most successful trainer with eight wins.
Perhaps it was a good omen and a sign of things to come. After Satish Seemar got the luck of the draw and had no hesitation in picking Stall 3, his back inadvertently touched the huge screen displaying the gates. Stall 3 still stood but Stall 3 too came up on screen.
If one were to believe in superstitions, it maybe indicated that North America, Seemar’s adorable horse, could be the numero uno at the Meydan Racecourse Saturday night.
There’s still a long way to go until then and it remains to be seen how things play out but the seven-year-old with the blue blood of the illustrious Dubawi, has perhaps his best shot at winning the richest and the most prestigious prize in the world of horse racing — the Dubai World Cup.
Seemar tried to keep a lid on his emotions but deep down, the Dubai-based Indian trainer would’ve been delighted to get the first pick
at the draw. North America likes to be closest to the rails and dictate the race from the get-go and all he needs now is a little bit more luck with the weather.
One cannot emphasis the importance of a great start and if he gets it right this time and jumps out well from the gates, there would be no stopping him in his tryst with the big prize and his waltz into history.
North America is a massive horse with a massive, massive stride — one and a half to be precise — as compared to the others. And if none of the other 12 contenders come in front of him, North America could, quite literally, vanish into thin air.
Like last year, North America, the mount of Richard Mullen, leads up in ominous form, with two victories in the three-round Al Maktoum Challenge, during the Carnival.
Impressed by what they saw, his connections opted to wrap North America in cotton wool and keep him fresh for the big night.
He didn’t contest the final round of the Al Maktoum Challenge, the prep race for the Dubai World Cup, on Super Saturday.
The break has done the seven-year-old North America, the oldest in the field, a world of good and he is good to go, reckons Seemar.
While Seemar dreams of the making it into the top echelons in a career spanning close to three decades, Saeed bin Suroor will be hoping for thunder and snow to rain on Dubai once again.
The city has been in the midst of thunder, lightning, rain and hail over the past couple of weeks and the Emirati handler will be expecting his Thunder Snow to do it once more.
Thunder Snow strode to a commanding five and three quarter lengths victory to give Suroor his eighth win, the most by any trainer. And while, no horse has ever won it twice and that too in back-to-back editions, the ace Godolphin trainer, felt that Thunder Snow has what it takes to go against history.
Ever since his career-defining run at Meydan, Thunder Snow placed eighth in the International Stakes at York, second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, and third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
But, if omens are anything to go by, Thunder Snow, the ride of Christophe Soumillon, had finished second to North America in the Al Maktoum Challenge before going on to win the World Cup last year. This year, he was second to Capezzano. Perhaps, a sign again.
Last year was meant to be a face-off between Thunder Snow and North America but it unfortunately didn’t happen after the latter missed the break.
Hopefully, we won’t be denied a second time. But the showpiece is not just about these two horses though with another Emirati trainer Salem bin Ghadayer triple-handed with Capezzano, Gronkowski and Axelrod but his best chance would be with Capezzano, who had beaten Thunder Snow by 9.5 lengths.
It is a wide open field though with returnees Gunnevera, Pavel, Seeking The Soul and the others, all in with a chance over the 10 furlongs.
May the best horse win.