dubai | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dubai World Cup: ‘Underdog’ Sleepy Eyes Todd ‘Tries His Eyeballs Out Every Time’

Thumbs Up Racing's Sleepy Eyes Todd continues to grow his fanbase heading into the toughest test of his career, the 10-furlong, $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) on March 27. While his propensity to pose for the morning racing media and genuine nature around the barn have earned him points with onlookers and horsemen, alike, it is his grit and consistency that flock favor to those only aware of his performance record. All of the above will likely come into play if the roan warrior is to be successful on the big day.

“He's a gentleman,” said trainer Miguel Angel Silva. “He feels really good to be around. Even though he's a stallion, he acts like a good friend. He's just gentle with everyone and he doesn't like to do anything bad or stupid to the groom or gallop-people. He's a cool guy and he likes the (media) cameras.”

A five-time stakes winner who has shown marked versatility in trip and track, the photogenic son of Paddy O'Prado is not considered a favorite in the market for the Dubai World Cup, but is respected by many as one they know will have a say in the outcome. He exits a strong-closing fifth in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh, suffering traffic issues, and has won graded stakes at nine furlongs and seven furlongs.

“We didn't get the trip we wanted in Saudi,” Silva explained. “It's just racing luck and hopefully he can have better luck this time and maybe we can get the win. This time, like last time, I would like to see him five or six lengths behind the speed, but you never know what's going to happen during the race. That was the plan last time and all of a sudden we were dead-last and had to come running.”

The eight-time winner from 17 starts will be reunited with jockey Alexis Moreno, who was aboard in the Saudi Cup. While he has yet to prove himself at the G1 level, he has been successful against G1 horses with the proverbial world watching.

On the Breeders' Cup World Championships undercard at Keeneland in November, he defeated a talented Lafayette Stakes (Listed) field, including next-out Cigar Mile (G1) winner True Timber and Burj Nahaar (G3) victor Midnight Sands. In December's Mr. Prospector (G3), he turned back G1 winners Diamond Oops and Mind Control, as well as multiple G2 winner Firenze Fire. Those efforts have been par for the course for a runner who has consistently and successfully taken his show on tour, including winning last year's Charles Town Classic (G2) over nine furlongs. He will have to stretch another furlong in Dubai, attempting 1 1/4 miles for the first time.

“I would love to see him finish the way he did on Breeders' Cup day,” Silva said. “He tries his eyeballs out every time. He's a hard-working horse who's always the underdog and we just love him. He's had issues in the races, but always managed to come back and perform well.

“He's training amazing right now and he really likes this track. The transition from Saudi to here has been great and we've had no issues so far. It's a little more similar to a U.S. track and he loves to train and gets over the track. The works have been a little bit longer with him (to build stamina), but I don't see any problem with the distance. He has been, in the last couple races, one of the only horses who is finishing in the race. In Saudi, he was the only horse really closing in on the frontrunners. If anything, the distance will be good for him.”

The ride Sleepy Eyes Todd has taken the Mexico City native on has undoubtedly been a memorable one. A second-generation horseman who has worked his way from hotwalker to head trainer, Silva is not quick to take any part of this experience for granted.

“It is an amazing experience to have him and I've been trying to take it all in,” Silva said. “Hopefully we will get more horses who have this kind of quality of racing in them after this, but we'll see. We are trying to enjoy it and are going step by step with the horse heading into the race.

“I have climbed the ladder and found my own path. It has been like a family business to work with horses, from my grandfather to my dad and to me and my brothers—we all belong to these beautiful animals.”

The post Dubai World Cup: ‘Underdog’ Sleepy Eyes Todd ‘Tries His Eyeballs Out Every Time’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Lively’ Saudi Cup Hero Mishriff Could Be Aimed At Juddmonte International After Dubai

The Saudi Cup winner Mishriff – fresh from landing the world's most valuable race, – has the Juddmonte International at York as his main summer target following a return to turf in the Dubai Sheema Classic on March 27.

The Juddmonte International, a Group 1 prize over 2000m (1 1/4 miles) in August, is the chief aim for the John Gosden-trained colt, in what is expected to be a busy campaign for the 4-year-old before retiring to stud at the end of the British turf season.

Mishriff, who ran down American star Charlatan with a strong late charge to win the $20 million Saudi Cup last month, will next appear in the 2400m (1 1/2 miles) Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan on March 27.

He is likely to have a break after that before heading to Royal Ascot and Gosden's son Thady, who oversaw his preparation in Saudi Arabia, said: “To win a race of the caliber of The Saudi Cup was pretty wonderful for everyone involved. It was brilliant that the horse is owned by a local owner, Prince Faisal, and the home crowd were obviously thrilled.

“Charlatan had a lot more speed than us from the gate but David [Egan] gave him a brilliant ride to keep him close enough to the pace, which definitely helped.

“In America they have much shorter straights whereas in Saudi it is just one turn. They have that long, sweeping bend and then it's a long way home. Horses like Charlatan wouldn't be used to that.

“Obviously, Mishriff had a hard race in The Saudi Cup but he took the race well. Charlatan is a top-class horse so it was pretty tough running him down.

“He's been working well and he seems happy. The whole journey and the travelling hasn't taken much out of him.”

The decision to run Mishriff in the Dubai Sheema Classic instead of the Dubai World Cup means a return to turf and a first try at 2400m.

Gosden, who is to join his father on the licence at Clarehaven Stables as joint-trainer in the near future, doesn't believe the step up in distance will be a problem.

He revealed: “There's plenty of stamina in his pedigree and you'd think he might get it [the trip] on what he shows at home. The Sheema Classic is 2400m so we'll find out what we suspect but we'll know for sure afterwards.

“The dirt tracks in Saudi and Dubai are different surfaces. The turf horses seem to handle it better in Saudi so the dirt form might not necessarily translate to Meydan.”

There will be plenty of options in Europe for Mishriff during the British summer but Gosden was quick to nominate the Juddmonte International as an ideal target for the Saudi Cup hero.

He said: “The Juddmonte International is the premier 2000m race in the UK. York is a track that should suit him well as it's a nice galloping 2000m.

“With the Juddmonte link with Prince Faisal and Saudi Arabia it's another race I'm sure he'd like to target. Plenty of good horses have won it and it's been a pretty good stallion making race over the years.

“Mishriff is definitely a horse who enjoys his racing, mentally he doesn't seem to worry about it at all. He should be able to take plenty of racing this year.

“He's a pretty lively character – he definitely likes to let you know he's there but he's very straightforward in his work. When you see him on the racetrack he holds his head quite low – he gets on with it and definitely enjoys it.”

When Mishriff is next seen on track in Britain, Gosden is likely to be given official recognition for his role at his father's Newmarket stables. The 25-year-old will be joint-trainer after filling the role of assistant for the last five years.

He said: “It's been in the pipeline a little while and we were working out a good time to do it. Everything unfortunately got pushed back a bit with Covid but hopefully it will all get sorted soon.

“Things are working fairly well at the moment so hopefully we can keep on going. It's going incredibly smoothly – no speed bumps at all – and I'm obviously very fortunate to be in this position.”

The post ‘Lively’ Saudi Cup Hero Mishriff Could Be Aimed At Juddmonte International After Dubai appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Due To Minor Issue, Tacitus Will Miss Dubai World Cup For Second Straight Year

Juddmonte Farm's Tacitus will not make his next expected start in the March 27 Dubai World Cup, reports the Daily Racing Form. The gray son of Tapit and champion Close Hatches may have banged his hind leg on something and was found to be sore for several days, said Juddmonte general manager Garrett O'Rourke.

“They checked him out and recommended just to walk him for a few weeks. Hopefully nothing serious there, but everything has to go perfect for a race of that caliber,” O'Rourke told DRF.

Tacitus was shipped straight to Dubai from Saudi Arabia, where he finished fifth, beaten over 15 lengths in the Saudi Cup on Feb. 20. The Bill Mott trainee also missed last year's edition of the Dubai World Cup after shipping to the UAE, when the races were cancelled due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

The big gray's record currently stands at 4-4-3 from 16 starts for earnings of $3.7 million.

Stidham Shipping Mystic Guide To Dubai World Cup ‘With A Lot Of Confidence’

Known as a top-tier trainer in the U.S. for decades, Mike Stidham now, finally, takes his well-respected show on the road with his first starter outside North America, Godolphin's Mystic Guide. The winner of more than 2,100 races has brought the son of Ghostzapper along patiently, but a one-sided victory in February's $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) convinced him that a trip to the UAE for the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) is an obvious next step.

“We felt really confident that he had moved forward from last year, his 3-year-old year,” Stidham explained. “We could tell just by the way he was training and how he seemed mentally and physically. We felt we had him ready to go to Oaklawn Park and run a good race, but then we got there there was rain and a sea of slop on the track. You don't know for sure how they're going to handle a wet track like that, although his dam (multiple G1 winner) Music Note won a Grade 1 in the slop, so that gave us a little confidence. Then when you watch the race, you see he was four- and five-wide on the turns–you worry about that–but then he pulled away like he did in the stretch and earned a 108 Beyer (Speed Figure), which exceeded our expectations.

“Sometimes you worry, when a horse goes far past their top number, that there could be a good chance of a 'bounce,' but he's certainly come out great and he's looking fantastic,” the 48-time graded stakes-winning conditioner continued. “He's back here at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and will have a work here before we ship. I have no reason to believe he's going to regress, so we'll see how he handles the travelling. If all is well, we'll get an easy breeze over the track at Meydan.”

A well-made chestnut with a flashy blaze, the blue-blooded homebred is another in a long line of graded stakes performers brought along deliberately by the Stidham operation that is co-spearheaded by longtime assistant Hilary Pridham. The training yard has flourished with an impressive breadth of runners, including juveniles, older horses, sprinters, routers, dirt and turf runners. The highlight reel includes G1-winning fillies Sutra, Two Altazano, Her Emmynency and Zipessa, as well as G2/G3-winning older males Synchrony, Manzotti and Willcox Inn–but it is in the last few years, when teaming with Godolphin, that the bar has been raised.

As recent as last weekend, Godolphin, Stidham and jockey Luis Saez–Mystic Guide's expected pilot in Dubai–joined forces to bring home Micheline in the Hillsborough Stakes (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs, the ninth graded stakes Stidham has won for HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Mystic Guide has earned two of those, including Saratoga's Jim Dandy (G2) in decisive style over Jesus' Team, whom he likely faces again in Dubai. That effort was part of a carefully crafted sophomore season for the three-time winner from seven starts (never worse than third).

“We've made the same types of decisions with him throughout his career,” Stidham said. “Through the whole of his 3-year-old year, we had temptations to run in the Arkansas Derby (G1) after his big maiden win and then the postponed Kentucky Derby (G1). We never felt he was quite ready to win those races just yet. He was a step behind where he needed to be for us to feel confident, so we waited for 3-year-old races like the Peter Pan and the Jim Dandy. It was the right thing to do. You could see him gradually improving as the year went on.

“We decided to try him in a Grade 1 in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and he ran a great race to be second, improving again, but we felt like he wasn't quite where he needed to be to win the Breeders' Cup Classic,” he continued. “We just did what was right for him and never forced him into any spot. We gave him a break, but he never left the track, and we were able to fresh him over the winter. Now we're reaping the rewards of doing that.”

A charismatic type who is loved around the Stidham barn, Mystic Guide enters the 10-furlong (2000m) contest on March 27 as a favorite of tipsters, as well.

“He's straight-forward and is an easy-galloping horse on the track,” Stidham continued. “He can be a little aggressive around the barn, but he's a really intelligent horse. I have had a lot of really great older turf horses, but I haven't had an older dirt handicap horse like him, so it's a lot of fun for me.”

Stidham's relationship with Godolphin is part of the recent expansion and resulting success the 'Boys in Blue' have had in America, including 2020 champion Essential Quality with Brad Cox and once-beaten star Maxfield with Brendan Walsh. Stidham, like many of the trainers working for the operation, is justifiably hopeful for an even brighter future.

“It's been an unbelievable time,” he explained. “To have horses like Mystic Guide, his half-brother Gershwin, Micheline, (G2 Del Mar Derby winner) Pixelate and Proxy, who could be a (Kentucky) Derby horse–it's a lot of really amazing things going on right now. I have to pinch myself, sometimes, because I've been in the business 45 years and watched these horses with other trainers. For me to actually have a couple is pretty outstanding.

“When we get our 2-year-olds in April, we may get 15 or 20 of them, and you immediately see the stallion power with sires like Hard Spun, Tapit, Curlin, Medaglia d'Oro and others that are coupled with mares like Panty Raid (G1-winning dam of Micheline) and Music Note. It's only a matter of time before the pedigrees line up. I really want to thank and congratulate Jimmy Bell and Dan Pride at Godolphin for doing a fantastic job diversifying things and spreading these horses throughout the country with all these trainers.”

First things first, as Stidham is doing anything but resting on his laurels. The 18% lifetime conditioner is fixated on his first global success when he starts Mystic Guide against a field that likely includes Jesus' Team, as well as G1 Champions Cup winner Chuwa Wizard, multiple graded stakes winner Sleepy Eyes Todd and UAE stars Salute the Soldier and Military Law.

“We're going there with a lot of confidence,” Stidham concluded. “I think the track will suit him and one of his best races was going a mile and a quarter. From what I've seen watching previous Dubai World Cups, it looks like you don't want to be too far back and he's a tactical horse. He can be laying in a forward-type of position at that distance and we know he can get the distance. With all those things included, I'm very optimistic about our chances.”

Luck permitting, Mystic Guide and the remainder of the American DWC contingent are expected to arrive in Dubai on March 17, St Patrick's Day. Stidham and Pridham will join soon after to oversee final preparations.

The post Stidham Shipping Mystic Guide To Dubai World Cup ‘With A Lot Of Confidence’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post