Tag: Bhupat Seemar

Bhupat Seemar’s Zabeel Stables To Relocate To Meydan

Dubai World Cup-winning trainer Bhupat Seemar is set to relocate his hugely successful Zabeel Stables to a new location at Meydan.

Seemar landed the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup with the Juddmonte-owned Laurel River (Into Mischief), a victory that crowned a memorable season for the trainer given he landed a second UAE trainers' championship title.

However, pastures new beckon for Seemar, who explained that his large string will be better suited to the new facility. 

“To leave Zabeel with a Dubai World Cup as well as both the trainers' and jockeys' championship was the crowning glory,” the trainer told The National newspaper. 

“It was a good send-off and it was beautiful. I have spent 21 memorable years [there] but life has to move on. They are still putting in everything that we've had in Zabeel. So, there's a lot of work going on there. 

“It's going to be a wonderful facility. Green Stable is the biggest stable at Meydan. We have a large number of horses and that's the most suitable stable. I'm thankful they've offered this to us.”

 

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Seven Days: Bring on the Classic Trials 

I love Paris in the springtime, sang Ella Fitzgerald, and I'm pretty sure it was a thinly-veiled reference to her secret passion for heavy ground three-year-old maidens at Saint-Cloud.

What Classic clues may we glean there? Well, maybe none. But I liked the look of Narkez (Fr), who gave his rivals a six-length walloping in the Prix Comrade last Tuesday, picking up where he left off after winning at Clairefontaine last October. Bred by Nurlan Bizakov under his Sumbe banner, the colt represents that magic Siyouni (Fr)-Galileo (Ire) cross, though let's face it, Galileo mares work well all over the place. Narkez, trained by Andre Fabre, has helped to give his owner a great start to the season following the Listed win of Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the Doncaster Mile. 

One person who is entitled to love Siyouni more than most is Peter Brant, who celebrated his first European Classic victory when Sottsass (Fr) won the Prix du Jockey Club before going on to deliver the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for Brant as well. We're looking forward to seeing his first runners emerge this season, but in the meantime Brant looks to have another decent prospect by Siyouni on his hands in the form of Louise Procter (Fr). Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, she became the second TDN Rising Star of the week for her sire when remaining unbeaten in her third start in the Prix du Belvedere at Chantilly on Thursday. She looks smart and has the entries to match. 

Making Dreams (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) kept up her trainer Karl Burke's great strike-rate in French stakes races by winning the G3 Prix Penelope by six lengths on her seasonal debut at Saint-Cloud. She is another who should enter considerations for the Classics, as should the Prix Caracalla winner Mister Gatz (Fr), who was born in the spring in which his sire Adlerflug (Ger) died. The flashy chestnut colt was somewhat reminiscent of his father as he bowled around the lush Parisian turf looking like he was having a mighty time before putting his head down to stride clear of the field by five lengths. Trained in Deauville by Stephanie Nigge for a collection of owners which includes his breeder Mathieu Boutin and Gerard Augustin-Normand, Mister Gatz holds an entry for the Deutsches Derby. 

O'Shea Shines on Dubai's Big Day

Of course last week, or more specifically Saturday, was really all about the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan which could certainly be considered a triumph for internationalism. The trophies for the eight Group races were shared between horses trained in America, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan, France, Britain and Dubai (x2).

It was also a great advertisement for keeping classy horses in training beyond the age of three. The winners of the five Group 1 contests were aged between five and seven, with Jerome Reynier's Dubai Turf winner Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) being the youngest of those, and the wide-margin Golden Shaheen winner, the former Russian-trained Tuz (Oxbow), enjoying his finest hour as a seven-year-old on his fourth appearance on Dubai World Cup night. 

Tuz and the Dubai World Cup winner Laurel River (Into Mischief) won their races in a manner which must still have their trainer Bhupat Seemar and jockey Tadhg O'Shea blinking in disbelief. By six and a half and eight and a half lengths respectively, they each set a new record for the winning distance, with Laurel River, who broke from the outside gate, overturning that held by Dubai Millennium (GB) for 24 years. 

O'Shea, now 42, has been champion jockey in the UAE 11 times and he is in pole position to claim his 12th title this season. But despite that consistent success, the Irishman had a sole Group 1 victory to his name until Saturday.

A modest and loyal grafter, O'Shea praised Laurel River's owner Juddmonte for keeping him on the horse, saying, “They could have any jockey in the world on him and they kept the faith with me. I'll be forever indebted to them.”

Juddmonte didn't need any other jockey to claim a second Dubai World Cup after Arrogate's victory in 2017. O'Shea, bold from the outset from the number 12 stall, simply rode his rivals ragged and very much deserved his night in the spotlight. 

The Auguste Enigma

The last three winners of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) were all in action over the weekend, with Shahryar (Jpn) a good second in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, which also featured the last two Japanese Oaks winners Liberty Island (Jpn) and Stars On Earth (Jpn), while Do Deuce (Jpn) was not beaten far when fifth in the G1 Dubai Turf. Lest we think that Japan is completely depleted of its best runners during the big meetings in the Middle East, then look no further than Sunday's G1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin. It featured last year's Japanese Derby and 2,000 Guineas winners, Tastiera (Jpn) and Sol Oriens (Jpn), along with Geoglyph (Jpn), who beat Equinox (Jpn) to win the Guineas in 2022, and the G1 Shuka Sho winner of that same year, Stunning Rose (Jpn).

So much of the Sheema Classic build-up had centred on the clash between Liberty Island and Auguste Rodin (Ire), but the latter, who won last year's Derby and Irish Derby before going on to land the Irish Champion and Breeders' Cup Turf, added to his enigmatic status by finishing last of the 12 runners. 

Don't despair. When 12th in the Guineas on debut last season, Auguste Rodin bounced back to win at Epsom, and he put his last-place finish in the King George behind him to triumph next time out on Irish Champions Weekend. This column, at least, still holds the faith that when he's good, he's very, very good. 

Epsom's honour was however upheld in Sydney over the weekend, where the 2020 Derby winner Serpentine (Ire) claimed his second consecutive stakes win for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in the G3 Neville Selwood S. 

It's Whitsbury's World

It is important not to get too carried away with the early two-year-old races. Despite the annual hullabaloo over Royal Ascot, nothing really matters until the autumn, right? But it's impossible not to watch the early skirmishes with interest and Whitsbury Manor Stud's Sergei Prokofiev was represented by his second winner from just two runners when Flicka's Girl triumphed at Wolverhampton on Easter Monday. The David Loughnane-trained filly was also bred by Whitsbury Manor and sold, as is the stud's usual practice, at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 22,000gns.

Britain's other juvenile race on Monday over at Kempton went the way of Pont Neuf (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), a winner on debut for Eve Johnston Houghton, who also struck with the two-year-old Tanager (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) at Chelmsford on Good Friday. 

The trainer has a well established partnership with bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock when it comes to working the sales and the pair has once again unearthed a couple of useful looking prospects for 24,000gns (Tattersalls Somerville) and €22,000 (Tattersalls Ireland) respectively.

Johnson Houghton has made a flying start to the new season with four winners and three placed horses from nine runners since the official 'start of the Flat'.

Jack Came Back

It was announced last week that Ben Curtis, who was been riding at Fair Grounds in New Orleans over the winter, would remain in America for “the foreseeable future” after riding 43 winners and netting more than $1.5 million in prize-money.

Last September, Curtis had ridden his 1,000th winner aboard Merrijig (GB) (Schiaparelli {Ger}) and as that horse resumed on Good Friday, the absent Curtis was replaced in the saddle by Jack Gilligan, who has recently returned after a decade in the US and now has Curtis's former agent Simon Dodds representing him.

Merrijig was the first of two winners for Gilligan from three rides on Good Friday, and the jockey struck again 24 hours later on his sole ride at Wolverhampton. 

Not to be confused with the Irish conditional of the same name, Gilligan was born in Newmarket but left Britain at the age of 17 with his parents Pat, a racing writer and trainer, and Vicky, a barn foreman at WinStar Farm. With more than 400 wins in America, including two Grade III victories aboard Silver Dust (Tapit), he has been making the most of the opportunities handed to him since returning to his home town.

There are not many names in the jockeys' table with a better strike-rate than Gilligan so far this year. He is currently operating at 20% winners to rides. Backing all of his 45 mounts would have yielded a profit of almost £43 to a £1 stake.

Pecheur Swaps Roles for Rottgen

German Classic-winning jockey Maxim Pecheur retired at the end of last season to succeed Markus Klug as the trainer at Gestut Rottgen near Cologne. He had previously ridden Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) in the famous Rottgen colours to win the 2017 G1 Deutsches Derby. The colt was trained by Klug, as was Pecheur's G1 Preis der Diana winner, Diamanta (Ger) (Maxios {GB}), for Gestut Brummerhof. 

Pecheur is clearly adjusting well to his new role at the historic training centre and he could well have a Derby contender of his own this year after his first runner, Anspruch (Ger) (New Bay {GB}), won on debut at Cologne on Monday. The Rottgen-bred colt is out of the Group 3 winner Anna Katharina (Ger) (Kallisto {Ger}).

 

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Juddmonte Juggernaut! Laurel River Wins Dubai World Cup By An Imposing Margin

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — When the late Arrogate overcame a world of trouble to win the 2017 G1 Dubai World Cup, many racing fans said it was the best performance in the history of the race. To some, it rates right up there with some of the best performances ever seen.

It's entirely possible that Juddmonte's Laurel River (Into Mischief) managed to upstage him Saturday with an absolutely stunning, front-running tour-de-force in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan, a result that even those closest to him may not have anticipated.

Winner of the 2022 GII Pat O'Brien S.–where a horse called Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) was third–Laurel River was somewhat controversially withdrawn from that year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, a race for which he was likely to be favored. Sidelined for a spell, Juddmonte elected to transfer their homebred from Bob Baffert to the Dubai-based stable of leading trainer Bhupat Seemar in the summer of 2023.

To say things were off to an inauspicious beginning in the Emirates would be an understatement of monumental proportions. Laurel River faded tamely to finish seventh in the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint on local debut in late January, but as disappointing as that effort was, he bounced back to post an equally emphatic 6 3/4-length victory in the G3 Burj Nahaar on Super Saturday to punch his ticket to World Cup night.

Conventional wisdom dictates that winning the Burj Nahaar leads to a start in the G2 Godolphin Mile over the same course and distance on the big night, but Seemar and the Juddmonte braintrust called an audible and routed the six-year-old to the G1 Dubai World Cup instead: a race 12 times as valuable, but incrementally more challenging on a few levels, not least the 2000-metre distance of the race. Additionally, the Godolphin Mile was likely to attract the speedy Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) and defending champion Isolate (Mark Valeski), and opting for the World Cup would eliminate the possibility of a suicidal pace duel.

“I feel like the 10 furlongs is a stretch for him, but that is a speed-favoring track and he might be the lone speed,” Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke told the TDN when World Cup plans were confirmed Mar. 7.

After drawing 12 of 12 at Wednesday's barrier draw at the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa, many would have further downgraded the chances of Laurel River, reasoning that a horse already questionable to see out the trip would have to go hard–perhaps too hard–in order to secure the front. After all, another speedball–Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn})–had similar misfortune at the draw last year and dropped away to finish well down the field.

But there would be no such repeat Saturday evening, as Laurel River decisively surged into a clear lead with a half-mile to travel and went on to score by 8 1/2 lengths, the largest margin of victory in a World Cup at Meydan.

“I'm still coming to terms with what's happened,” Seemar said. “I think it'll probably sink in in another day or two. It's absolutely amazing. [Jockey] Tadhg [O'Shea] said this morning 'we're drawn 12, I'm not going to be two-minded about it, I'm going to go forward.'”

And go forward he did, sliding over to lead three off the inside with a circuit to travel as he had Military Law (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Dura Erede (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) for early company. As they turned towards the backstretch, Defunded (Dialed In) circled up so as not to sit wide the trip, and the two of them controlled the pace through the middle stages.

They put the better part of a half-dozen lengths on Dura Erede and the rail-skimming international favorite Kabirkhan (California Chrome) rounding the turn, and by the time Laurel River passed the 600-meter pole, it was really all over but the shouting. Showing no signs of stopping as he hit the top of the lane, Laurel River opened up by perhaps as many as 10 lengths  and jogged it in from there.

Senor Buscador got first run on defending champion Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), but was run down on the wire for second while adding another $1.2 million to his $10-million grab in the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 24.

“He brings it every time, he ran a really good race,” said trainer Todd Fincher. “He might have started his run a little early trying to catch Laurel River and maybe that cost us a placing. Hats off to Laurel River, he freaked on everybody there.”

Of the winner, Seemar added, “”He's got so much natural pace. He comes out of the gate and this is why we ran him over six furlongs [in the Al Shindagha].

“Tadhg was able to get some easy fractions and then I saw Defunded coming on his outside but he just kept on going further. I expected to see all the closers flying at him but he kept going.”

For the better part of two decades, O'Shea has pounded the pavement on the Emirates Racing Authority, and he was basking in the afterglow of his Saturday achievements. He also guided Tuz (Oxbow) to an open-lengths success in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, his second in three years after missing by a nostril with defending champion Switzerland in 2023.

“I've been fortunate enough to have had Dubai World Cup night winners but you don't get many opportunities and I'm going to be forever grateful to Juddmonte for keeping me on the horse, they could use anyone and they're a worldwide operation that's really successful,” said O'Shea.

“When he had his first run for the stable, we thought he'd disappointed, but we never lost faith. He was explosive last time and I said the other morning to Bhupat, I pulled him aside and said I'd never ridden a horse with his ability ever. And he'd just done an easy work on his own.

“With the dirt you can't be half-hearted, you have to go forward. If he didn't stay, he didn't stay. We were aware of that. The main thing that won the race, it's easy to say when you win, but I was able to keep filling him up and filling him up.”

Kabirkhan sat a good inside trip, but failed to go on in the lane and finished eighth, beaten over 18 lengths.

“He was beaten a long way out,” commented his jockey Pat Dobbs. “I knew leaving the back straight he wasn't the same horse as before.”

Of the remaining Americans, Newgate (Into Mischief), Crupi (Curlin) and Clapton (Brethren) finished a distant eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

Pedigree Notes:

Laurel River is the 20th Grade I winner for Into Mischief and is bred on the same cross over Empire Maker responsible for 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun, while other top-level winners from Fappiano-line mares include champion Covfeve, Gina Romantica, Doppelganger and Atone. Additional stakes winners by Into Mischief out of Empire Maker dams include Grade III scorers Occult and Center Aisle and Juddmonte's late Taraz.

On paper, Laurel River is bred to stay the mile and quarter and perhaps further, as his first two dams are by Belmont S. winners. Juddmonte purchased Laurel River's second dam Soothing Touch for $550,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September sale, and while she didn't work out as a racemare, she's excelled in the breeding shed.

The mare is the dam of six winners from 10 to race, including her first foal Emollient (Empire Maker), victorious in the 2013 GI Central Bank Ashland S. and the Juddmonte-sponsored GI Spinster, and her four winners as a broodmare include G2 Prix de Malleret winner Raclette (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and French listed winner Ardent (Frankel {GB}).  Soothing Touch has also accounted for Hofburg (Tapit), a stakes winner and third in the GI Belmont S; and stakes winner Courtier (Tapit).

The second foal from Soothing Touch, Laurel River has a 2-year-old half-sister by Constitution, a yearling half-brother by that son of Tapit and produced a full-sister to Laurel River four days after his victory in the Burj Nahaar.

Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
DUBAI WORLD CUP SPONSORED BY EMIRATES AIRLINE-G1, AED12,000,000, Meydan, 3-30, 3yo/up, 10f, 2:02.31, fs.
1–LAUREL RIVER, 126, h, 6, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Calm Water, by Empire Maker
                2nd Dam: Soothing Touch, by Touch Gold
                3rd Dam: Glia, by A.P. Indy
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Inc
(KY); T-Bhupat Seemar; J-Tadhg O'Shea. $6,960,000. Lifetime
Record: GSW-US, 10-6-1-0-1, $7,470,676. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ushba Tesoro (Jpn), 126, h, 7, Orfevre (Jpn)–Millefeui Attach
(Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). (¥25,000,000 Wlg '17
JRHAJUL). O-Ryotokuji Kenji Holdings Co Ltd; B-Chiyoda Farm
Shizunai (JPN); T-Noboru Takagi. $2,400,000.
3–Senor Buscador, 126, h, 6, Mineshaft–Rose's Desert, by
Desert God. O-Sharaf Mohammed Al Hariri & Joe R Peacock Jr;
B-Joe Peacock Sr & Joe Peacock Jr (KY); T-Todd W Fincher.
$1,200,000.
Margins: 8HF, NK, 4 3/4.
Also Ran: Wilson Tesoro (Jpn), Dura Erede (Jpn), Derma Sotogake (Jpn), Defunded, Kabirkhan, Newgate, Crupi, Clapton, Military Law (GB). Click for the ERA chart & video.

 

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Oxbow’s Tuz Springs the Upset in Dubai Golden Shaheen, Sibelius Off the Board

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Tuz (Oxbow), who like Kabirkhan (California Chrome) was purchased on the final day of the Keeneland September sale and overwhelmed his competition in Russia to earn a call up to Dubai, took a gap at the fence with 200 metres to run and bolted clear to take Saturday's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Nakheel by a record-setting 6 1/2 -length margin.

Tuz won three starts at Pyatigorsk Hippodrome by the better part of 50 lengths was making his fourth straight appearance on World Cup night, finishing well-beaten in the G2 Godolphin Mile in 2021 and 2022 before finishing seventh in last year's Golden Shaheen. Victorious on that occasion was Sibelius (Not This Time), who just outfinished the Bhupat Seemar-trained defending champion Switzerland (Speightstown).

A disappointing 10th to the re-opposing Remake (Jpn) (Lani) when last seen in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint Feb. 24, having previously impressed in the G3 Dubawi S. over course and distance Jan. 5, Tuz bounced well from gate two beneath Tadhg O'Shea and fought out the early fractions with the 1305-pound Japanese monster Don Frankie (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), with Colour Up (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) close in tow.

Somewhat hesitant to take a gap inside of Don Frankie, who set the pace from the two path, Tuz pinned his ears, went through the hole at the fence and powered home to a comprehensive success. Nakatomi (Firing Line), third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, was last into the straight, but finished willingly for third ahead of a slow-starting Remake.

“He's got so much natural speed; his weapon is his speed,” said Seemar. “He's always been a fast horse and it's like Switzerland–he ran poorly in Saudi and then won the Shaheen. Sprinters mature and they know what to do. I had some confidence.”

Added O'Shea: Winning jockey Tadhg O'Shea said: “He's very fast. We had a great gate number [two] but we were getting pressured a long way out. He had to be good and tough. There wasn't much room to manoeuvre down the inside, but I had a good, willing partner. He's a big horse. When he straightened up, he went through the eye of a needle. I was a length down off Cristian [Demuro] on the home turn. I gave [Tuz] a squeeze and the response was immediate.”

Pedigree Notes:
With the victory, Tuz becomes the second elite-level winner for his sire, whose GI Pennsylvania Derby-winning son Hot Road Charlie was runner-up to Country Grammer in the 2022 G1 Dubai World Cup.
Bluegrass Hall acquired dam Suede Shoe, a daughter of Grade II winner Grande Melody, for $42,000 carrying to U S Ranger at the 2012 Keeneland November Sale and Tuz, who sold for just $7,000 at Keeneland September in 2018, is one of five winners from seven winners to race from the mare. The third dam Crystal Melody was a half-sister to G1 Fillies' Mile winner Crystal Music (Nureyev).
Suede Shoe is also the dam of the 3-year-old filly Vive La Vie (Demarchelier {GB}) and was most recently covered by Caracaro.

Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
DUBAI GOLDEN SHAHEEN SPONSORED BY NAKHEEL-G1, AED2,000,000, Meydan, 3-30, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:10.19, fs.
1–TUZ, 126, g, 7, by Oxbow
                1st Dam: Suede Shoe, by Pulpit
                2nd Dam: Grande Melody (Ire), by Grand Lodge
                3rd Dam: Crystal Melody (GB), by Nureyev
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. ($7,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Dakki Stable;
B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Bhupat Seemar; J-Tadhg O'Shea.
AED1,160,000. Lifetime Record: 19-6-3-4, $1,581,629. Click for
   the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Don Frankie (Jpn), 126, h, 5, Daiwa Major (Jpn)–
Weemissfrankie, by Sunriver. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE.
(¥68,000,000 Wlg '19 JRHAJUL). O-Makoto Hayano; B-
Northern Racing (JPN); T-Takashi Saito. $400,000.
3–Nakatomi, 126, g, 5,  Firing Line–Applelicious, by Flatter.
($18,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $25,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT; $205,000
HRA '23 FTKHRA). O-Qatar Racing LLC and Hay, Mrs. Fitriani;
B-Arnold Zetcher LLC & Crestwood Farm (KY); T-Wesley Ward.
$200,000.
Margins: 6HF, 3/4, 1 1/4.
Also Ran: Remake (Jpn), Igniter (Jpn), Leading Spirit (Ire), Run Classic, Mouheeb, Keiai Dorie (Jpn), Bold Journey, Sibelius, Hopkins, Freedom Fighter, Colour Up (Ire).
Click for the ERA chart & video.

 

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