Dermot Weld has announced that GREY SWALLOW (Ire) (Daylami [Ire]) will target
the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) at Nad al Sheba on March 25 after a change
of ownership. The Rosewell House conditioner told the Racing Post that the Irish
Derby (Ire-G1) and Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-G1) winner is now registered under
the Dubai-based company Vega VZE.
The gray raced under the ownership of Tommy and Rochelle Quinn as a juvenile
and the partnership known as Murry Rose Bloodstock in 2004, and a 90-percent
interest was sold to the Swiss-Italian banker Jean-Pierre Regli in October
2004. However, deals to secure a place for Grey Swallow at stud foundered when
Regli’s company Langbar International became involved in a Serious Fraud Office
investigation. Weld’s mother Greta retains her 10-percent stake as the breeder.
“The plan is for the horse to stay in training for the current season, and
the Dubai World Cup is his first major target,” Weld told the Post. “I am very
happy with him now. He has been freshened up and is moving like a dream. The
Dubai World Cup may seem ambitious, but I think he is adaptable. Because of the
weather, he trained on dirt in Canada and worked exceptionally well. It’s not a
definite target yet, I will need to be satisfied with his progress closer to the
race, but it seems the practical race to go for.”