HRH Princess Haya’s BLATANT (Machiavellian) put on a dominant display in
Round 1 of the Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Challenge (UAE-G3) at Nad al
Sheba on Thursday, opening day of the Dubai International Racing Carnival.
Always close to the pace, the seven-year-old gelding asserted superiority on the
far turn and steadily widened his margin in the stretch, coming home the easiest
of winners by 9 3/4 lengths under English rider Richard Hills. The Ismail
Mohammed trainee completed the mile in 1:36 3/5 on the fast track.
Cherry Pickings (Miner’s Mark) closed belatedly to claim second, 1 1/2
lengths in front of former Bobby Frankel charge, Lundy’s Liability (Brz)
(Candy Stripes), who was making his first start in nearly 10 months. Blue on Blues
(Lode), Kill Cat (Catrail), Baldaquin (Barathea [Ire]), Brunel (Marju), Petit
Paris (Hussonet), Near Dock (Docksider) and Party Boss (Silver Patriarch)
rounded out the order of finish.
Formerly running for Godolphin, Blatant served as pacemaker for his
classic-winning stablemate, Dubawi. He had twice placed in Group 1 events on the
turf, most recently in the Queen Elizabeth II S. (Eng-G1) at Ascot in September,
when he was third to Starcraft (NZ) and Dubawi. This was, however, the best form
that he had ever shown on the dirt. In his three previous attempts during the
2004 Dubai Carnival, he had been eighth, fifth and sixth on the main track
Bred in Great Britain, Blatant is out of 1989 English champion juvenile filly
Negligent (Ire) (Ahonoora). He is a half-brother to French Group 3 winner
Songlark (Singspiel [Ire]), who also showed some dirt ability with a runner-up
effort in the 2003 UAE Derby (UAE-G2). Negligent also has an unraced
three-year-old filly by Singspiel named Operissimo.
With this victory, Blatant has improved his career mark to 19-3-3-2 with a
bankroll of $334,839. He scored his only prior stakes win, the 2002 Ruby S., as
a sophomore in Ireland when stabled with horseman John Oxx. Blatant’s other
notable achievement was his second in the 2003 Premio Vittorio di Capua
(Ity-G1).
In other Dubai action, WinStar Farm’s homebred WELL ARMED (Tiznow) captured a
seven-furlong conditions race for Northern and Southern Hemisphere-bred
three-year-olds, the event that Henny Hughes (Hennessy) had entered earlier this
week before withdrawing at the final declaration stage.
Partnered by Ryan Moore, Well Armed stopped the timer in 1:24 2/5 while 3 1/2
lengths in advance of the Godolphin-owned Testimony (Yes It’s True). Well
Armed’s form completely turned around when English-based trainer Clive Brittain
took him off the turf, breaking his maiden at 1 1/4 miles in his first start on
Lingfield’s all-weather track before coming to Dubai.
Well Armed was produced by stakes winner Well Dressed (Notebook), who has a
juvenile colt named Helsinki and an unnamed yearling filly, both by Distorted
Humor. Overall, Well Armed’s record reads 9-2-1-0 with $35,343 in earnings.
Brittain predicted a big future for his promising bay colt.
“We’ll win the UAE (Two Thousand) Guineas (UAE-G2), the UAE Derby and the Kentucky
Derby (G1),” he was quoted as saying on sportinglife.com. “I’ve never been
a man to mince my words.
“I was confident that we had him right for this race. He has done
tremendously well from two to three,” Brittain continued. “Last year he was a
bit of a baby, but he is a man now.”
Brittain knows the sort of horse it takes to compete at Churchill Downs, as
he trained Bold Arrangement (GB) to a second-place effort behind Ferdinand in
the 1986 Kentucky Derby.