Quality Road colt Cairo will represent Aidan O'Brien in this Saturday's $1 million UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan Racecourse, having captured the March 3 Patton Stakes on synthetic to be the current leader on the European Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
The UAE Derby offers the winner 100 points on the main Road to the Kentucky Derby, as well as a chance to test the colt's dirt skills ahead of a trip to the United States. O'Brien charted this same path with Mendelssohn in 2018, who also won the Patton en route to winning that year's UAE Derby.
While Broome (Dubai Gold Cup) and Order Of Australia (Dubai Turf) are experienced globetrotters, Cairo is a new addition to Aidan O'Brien's traveling team and cantered at the rear of the trio.
O'Brien's travelling head lad, Pat Keating, said: “He has travelled here fit and well after winning at Dundalk a few weeks ago [Patton Stakes]. The two older horses are showing him the ropes but he's happy enough. The plan is that they will come out onto the main track here every morning at 7am.”
Cairo is out of the Galileo mare Cuff, a full sister to Group 2 winner and Classic-placed Gustav Klimt. He also owns entries for the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and the Irish Derby (G1), and three of his four juvenile starts came on the turf.
In the UAE Derby, Cairo is expected to face a three-strong challenge of U.S.-trained horses: the Doug O'Neill-trained duo of Tall Boy and Ah Jeez, both of whom have wins at the current Meydan meeting, as well as the Bob Baffert-trained Worcester, third in the G3 Bob Lewis Stakes. Other UAE Derby runners are a strong group from Japan and the South American shipper Es Unico.
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