Tag: dubai world cup

Favourites Draw Wide Gates For Dubai World Cup

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — WinStar Farm, Commonwealth Thoroughbreds and Zedan Racing LLC's Country Grammer (Tonalist) was assigned gate 14 in a field of 15 when he goes out in defense of his title in Saturday's G1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline at Meydan Racecourse, with the draw held at the Armani Hotel located in the towering Burj Khalifa in Central Dubai.

The 6-year-old, the final World Cup ride for jockey Frankie Dettori, won the GII San Antonio S. in dominating fashion in late December at Santa Anita and returned to Riyadh last time to reprise his runner-up effort from last year in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup four weeks back. The task at hand certainly wasn't made any easier by the draw, but connections were taking it all in their stride.

“We'll leave it up to Frankie and he'll get us around there,” said Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, who owns four World Cup trophies. “The horse came over from Saudi in good shape. He's looking awesome.”

His last three trips to the Gulf region have netted Country Grammer the better part of $14 million and a victory this weekend would make him the richest racehorse of all time.

The horse that beat him in Saudi last time from the rail, Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) drew the 15 hole, soliciting a collective gasp among those in attendance. While it is true that the gameplan remains the same regardless of the barrier, significantly, the Saudi Cup is contested over a one-turn nine-furlong trip. Conversely, the 2000-metre World Cup begins near the wire and has an abbreviated run to the first turn. There will be little margin of error for jockey Yutaka Yoshida, though he broke beautifully from gate one last time.

“Even if he misses the jump, he still has to go forward, so it's really no concern,” trainer Yoshito Yahagi said of last year's G1 Dubai Turf dead-heater. “We have only one tactic with him so it doesn't change. He won the Dubai Turf last year so we know he loves it here, all is good.”

With the focus on the defending champ as well as the eight-strong entry from Japan, Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal) feels like a somewhat forgotten horse going into the weekend despite tough-trip blowout victories in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 and R2. He also drew awkwardly in gate 13.

“It is a battle between some great horses and I hope we can win it,” said Algiers's young owner Hamdan Sultan Ali Alsabouli. “Gate 13 is fine but I was hoping to get five or six.”

Co-trainer Simon Crisford added, “He has drawn wide in both prep runs and so it's no real concern.”

Salute the Soldier (Ger) (Sepoy {Aus}) returned to his best form last time to take out the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 over the World Cup course and distance on Super Saturday for a second time in three years, besting Bendoog (Gun Runner) by two lengths. The pair drew gates four and seven, respectively.

“I might look happy but I'll be happier once the race is over!” said Bahraini conditioner Fawzi Nass. “He is well named, he is an absolute soldier. If we've got any tactics from this gate, I won't be telling you!”

Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) looks to become just the second horse to complete the G2 UAE Derby/World Cup double and figures to be ridden for pace by Australian jockey Damian Lane from a double-digit alley.

“We're not upset at all,” said Masafumi Matsuda, assistant trainer to Koichi Shintani. “After the race, we will be hopeful that stall number 12 will be the lucky one for us. We will go over the tactics with the jockey, but Crown Pride absolutely loves Dubai, so we hope it will be lucky for us.”

The World Cup is the last of the five Group 1s on the program, all of which were drawn Wednesday as well. Post time for the World Cup is 8:35 p.m. Owing to Ramadan, no post-race pyrotechnics or concert will take place. Live coverage of the Dubai World Cup airs on FS2 beginning at noon EST on Saturday. The Dubai World Cup undercard will be live on FS2 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST.

Saturday, Meydan, UAE, post time: 8:35 p.m. ET
DUBAI WORLD CUP SPONSORED  BY EMIRATES AIRLINE-G1, $12,000,000, 3yo/up, 2000m
1 (13) Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal)
2 (7) Bendoog (Gun Runner)
3 (10) Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah)
4 (14) Country Grammer (Tonalist)
5 (12) Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn})
6 (2) Emblem Road (Quality Road)
7 (9) Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong)
8 (3) Jun Light Bolt (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn})
9 (15) Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn})
10 (1) Remorse (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire})
11 (4) Salute the Soldier (Ger) (Sepoy {Aus})
12 (11) Super Corinto (Arg) (Super Saver)
13 (6) T O Keynes (Jpn) (Sinister Minister)
14 (8) Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn})
15 (5) Vela Azul (Jpn) (Eishin Flash {Jpn})

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‘Grammer’ Lessons–Part II

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Bloodstock agents are equal parts pedigree analysts, money managers and equine recruiters for those audacious (crazy?) enough to dabble in Thoroughbred ownership.

Few have followed the trajectory of the career of Country Grammer (Tonalist) more closely than the well-respected Peter Bradley, who went to work on behalf of the late Paul Pompa, Jr. at the 2019 OBS April Sale. It was Bradley's name on the docket when the hammer fell in the first 20 minutes of the final day of the auction, having parted with $450,000 for the :21 flat breezer who was bred in Kentucky by Scott and Debbie Pierce.

Not Exactly A Buyer's Market

As it turned out, the record-setting 2019 OBS April Sale proved a sensational market to sell into. The overall sales-topper, a $1.3-million colt by Into Mischief–Dixie Song (Fusaichi Pegasus), sold during that final day of trade in Central Florida and was one of three to fetch seven figures. Colonel Liam was the second-priciest horse, a $1.2-million purchase by Robert and Lawana Low.

“That was one of those years when everything was selling really well, and I was trying to kind of look for a support system where it's slightly under the radar,” Bradley explained. “Colonel Liam had sold like 20 hips before this horse did [during the latter stages of the penultimate session]. And I really liked him, but I also kind of knew that he was going to be out of my price range.”

Still, the Tonalist colt had plenty of action and was unlikely to come cheap.

“I had some money to spend. I mean, I spent $450,000 on this horse, so it wasn't like I was trying to find a bargain-basement horse,” he said. “'Obvious' always stands out and, you know, the two kind of–and they weren't really knocks–but one was his sire was not the hottest thing in the world, and, two, he was a May foal. And even though he did everything right, he was pretty immature. He had a great frame on him, but he was a bit on the narrow side. He worked every bit as well as Colonel Liam if I remember correctly. He really leveled out and I don't remember him being pressed  on the gallop out. He looked like he liked his job.”

Country Grammer let down following the sale at WinStar Farm and “the horse pretty much went through his 2-year-old blues,” Bradley reported.

“He was a little wound up, so they took a little more time with him than not, which you know when to do if you've spent time with horses,” Bradley said.

Making Up For Lost Time

Country Grammer was therefore a late-debuting juvenile for Chad Brown, finishing a close fourth on the turf before breaking his maiden when switched to the dirt for the first time in November 2019. Never a factor after losing his footing at the start of the 2020 GII Fountain of Youth S. a short time before COVID-19 changed the entire racing landscape, he was third in a salty Belmont allowance–one spot behind 'TDN Rising Star' and future Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper)–then was up late to win the GIII Peter Pan S., with Mystic Guide back in third. Country Grammer was fifth to GI Belmont S. hero Tiz the Law (Constitution) in the GI Runhappy Travers S. that August and was sidelined before tragedy intervened.

“Chad thought he was a seriously nice horse, thought he might potentially be a Derby horse for him and that didn't quite work out of course,” said Bradley. “He was maturing and he kept going along. He came up with a little problem and we put him on the sideline and went back to WinStar. Then, sadly, in the interim, Mr. Pompa passed away. Eventually WinStar bought him from for a song.”

Part of the Pompa dispersal at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale–a draft topped by the $925,000 future Eclipse Award winner Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom)–Country Grammer was hammered down for a comparatively paltry $110,000.

“We were prepared to go to $250,000 or so for him and were very surprised we got him for $110,000,” WinStar's Elliott Walden said in a pre-World Cup interview this time last year. “We felt he could be a good handicap horse and we bought him with the intention of sending him to Bob Baffert in California because that division out there seemed a little short on numbers and it's worked out well.”

That is possibly the understatement of the century. Country Grammer's runner-up effort in the 2022 G1 Saudi Cup and subsequent World Cup success netted him better than $10 million. He parlayed a dominating victory in the GII San Antonio S. Dec. 26 into yet another $3.5-million payday in Riyadh behind the reopposing Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) last month and would surge past $21 million in earnings with a win this weekend.

Pete Bradley will be watching Saturday's race with keen interest, hoping that the horse he took a chance on nearly four years ago continues to validate his high opinion of him.

“That's what I do for a living–I'm a talent scout when it comes right down to it,” Bradley said.

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‘Grammer’ Lessons–Part I

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Brooke Hubbard remembers the 2018 Keeneland September Sale almost as if it happened yesterday.

A little past the midway point of the sixth day of bidding in Lexington, hip 1683–a colt from the first crop of Tonalist and offered by Dermot and Emma Quinn's Garrencasey Sales–walked into the back ring and immediately caught Hubbard's attention. A few minutes and $60,000 later, the May 11 foal was hers.

“I bid twice and I was looking around thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, I must have missed something that someone else saw or noticed,'” Hubbard recollected. “But overall, he was just a really nice-shaped horse. His legs, he had good angles and he had a little pot-belly, but you could see the raw shape underneath it all.”

The immature, young and unrefined racehorse she'd plucked out of the sale on behalf of Sayjay Racing's Steve Young, now named Country Grammer, can become North America's first $20-million racehorse should he successfully defend his title at Meydan Racecourse this Saturday.

Making the Short 'List'

To call any son or daughter of Tapit a surprise package would be a bit of a stretch, but Tonalist proved to be one of the more versatile gallopers in recent memory. Winner of the GII Peter Pan S. at a mile and an eighth in May 2014, the Shel Evans homebred successfully stretched out to 12 furlongs to annex the GI Belmont S. and closed the campaign victoriously in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup over a mile and two furlongs.

A razor-sharp winner of the one-mile GIII Westchester H. on his 4-year-old debut, he was third to his fellow future Lane's End stallion barnmates Honor Code and Liam's Map in the GI Whitney S. before joining the likes of Slew o'Gold, Creme Fraiche, Skip Away and Curlin as back-to-back winners of the Gold Cup. Following a fifth behind American Pharoah in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Tonalist earned an all-important Grade I at eight panels in the Cigar Mile H.

Hubbard was more than willing to roll the dice on the son of the Forestry mare Arabian Song, whose female family includes Juddmonte luminaries such as Group 1 winner Etoile Montante (Miswaki), her MGSW daughter Starformer (Dynaformer), GISW Obligatory (Curlin) and MGSW/MGISP Bonny South (Munnings).

“I liked the idea of Tonalist as a first-crop sire, and I looked at a couple,” Hubbard said. “I don't generally just try to cherry-pick stallions. I just look at everything and what looks athletic and has a shape to it. When I saw him, I had followed up another Tonalist the day before, got outbid, went back to [the Arabian Song colt] and I thought he was a nicer physical than the one the day before.”

Neither was she put off by the colt's foaling date.

“I generally like to find a little bit later horses, just because we don't care about waiting on him and starting them a little bit later,” Hubbard said. “I remember talking to the consignor after I got him and she was asking about our plans.”

Seller's Remorse?

Though she had previously bought horses to race for Sayjay–including three-time Grade III winner Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen) in whom she was a partner–the Tonalist colt was bought as a potential horse for the 2-year-old sales and was turned over to Wavertree Stables' Ciaran Dunne.

“Right from the get-go, [Dunne] liked him,” she said. “I remember in December, he called me and he told me, 'The belly's gone. He's starting to shoot up and he's growing all the right ways. It was truthfully about December or January that he just looked like he was already maturing, which was surprising for a May foal, but yeah, he never missed a beat. We waited until April to sell him only to give him a little bit more time, but when I went there in March, I remember I was there with Neil Drysdale and there was a couple of other guys. We all pulled him out and everyone said the same thing, 'Wow, that's a nice two-turn horse.' At that time, I was pretty excited to continue with selling him in April.

She continued, “I looked at [the colt] in March when I went out [to Ocala], and Ciaran was raving about him,” she recollected. “I'm like, 'Well, we're going to continue with the sale. When I got back, [Steve Young] looked at me and he said, “This isn't a Grade I winner, is it?” I looked at him. I'm like, 'You never know.' When he went back up for sale, I tried to get him back interested and he said, 'Well, we already made money. Let's just watch him with his career.'”

The colt advertised himself at the breeze show for the OBS April Sale, covering a quarter-mile in :21 flat, even if the clocking was not entirely his selling point.

“The way he moved was all at the one pace and effortless,” Hubbard said. “It obviously showed that he was going to be a horse that could cover distance.”

And that he certainly has.

Pete Bradley would go on to give $450,000 for the colt–that part of the story will appear in this space in Thursday's TDN.

Hubbard will be thirty-some thousand feet over the country, destination Ocala, when the World Cup jumps around 12:35 Saturday afternoon.

“He looks good in there. That's for sure,” she said. “We're excited to watch him. I'll be on a plane back to Florida, but I'll definitely still be keeping in touch with that.”

If her fellow passengers experience any clear-air turbulence, they might not want to point a finger at the pilot.

 

 

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Super Corinto Added To Dubai World Cup Field

Jet Set Racing Stable's Chilean Group 1 winner Super Corinto (Arg) (Super Saver), originally among a bulky field entered for the G2 Godolphin Mile at Meydan Mar. 25, will instead run in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup, it was announced Friday.

Trained by Amador Sanchez, the Southern Hemisphere 4-year-old colt began his career at Monterrico Racetrack in Peru, winning three of his four starts, before finishing second to O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman) in the G1 Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano at Hipodromo Chile last Apr. 2. A 1 1/4-length winner of the G1 Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile going 11 furlongs on the dirt four weeks later, turning the tables on O'Connor, the bay was runner-up in a one-mile allowance/optional claimer at Gulfstream Park Nov. 12 before going one better over 8 1/2 furlongs Dec. 8. He was an intended runner in the Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., but was forced to miss the race due to an Equine Herpesvirus outbreak in his barn.

Super Corinto is one of two probable World Cup night starters for Sanchez, who is also set to be represented by Super Ocho (Chi) (Dubai Sky), a multiple Group 2 winner in Chile and third in last year's GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship. He will be a decided longshot in against the likes of Gunite (Gun Runner), Sibelius (Not This Time) and a strong Japanese contingent in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.

 

 

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