Standing at the backstretch rail at Nad al Sheba on Tuesday morning,
assistant trainer Trish McLaughlin watched ALBERTUS MAXIMUS (Albert the Great)
virtually soar past her while pulling against exercise rider Rob Massey in an
impressive show of contained strength and speed.
“He’s happy — he just loves to train,” McLaughlin said with a smile. “It’s
been another perfect morning.”
Albertus Maximus galloped about 1 1/2 miles (about 2,000 meters) for the
second consecutive day, and McLaughlin’s boss and brother-in-law, trainer Kiaran
McLaughlin, plans only more gallops before Saturday’s Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1).
Kiaran McLaughlin is due to be at Nad al Sheba on Wednesday.
“He’s very professional — he just wants to get on with his job,” Massey
said. “He can be a little aggressive, but he’s settled in very well here. And if
he wasn’t a little aggressive now, I’d be concerned.”
A day after he pleased assistant trainer Michelle Nevin with an easy
five-furlong workout, ARSON SQUAD (Brahms) just walked in the quarantine barn
area on Tuesday. The six-year-old gelding emerged from the drill in good shape
and with a good attitude.
“He’s happy, and he’s been out there picking at some grass,” Nevin said.
Arson Squad won last year’s Meadowlands Cup (G2) over fellow Dubai World Cup
entrant ANAK NAKAL (Victory Gallop). Fourth in the Donn H. (G1) behind winner
and World Cup favorite Albertus Maximus on January 31, Arson Squad bled a little
that day but has not had a problem with bleeding in his training since then,
trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. has said.
Dutrow, who last year sent out the winners of the Godolphin Mile (UAE-G2) and
the Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1), will not be able to make the trip to Dubai to
saddle Arson Squad and his stablemate, Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) contender Kip
Deville (Kipling), Nevin said.
Last year’s Dubai World Cup runner-up ASIATIC BOY (Not for Sale) was in
action on the Tapeta training track at Nad Al Sheba on Tuesday morning. Second
to Curlin last year, having won the U.A.E Derby (UAE-G2) in 2007, Asiatic Boy
returns for a third run at the Dubai World Cup meeting.
The five-year-old enters the race on the back of a victory in the Maktoum
Challenge Round 3 (UAE-G2), over the same 2,000-meter dirt course and distance
as the showpiece race under regular partner Johnny Murtagh.
“His preparation has gone well this time and all been based around Saturday
night. We have to hope he will go very close,” trainer Mike de Kock said.
Asiatic Boy will re-oppose WELL ARMED (Tiznow), who was a neck away in third
last year. The American raider walked the shed row Tuesday following his
half-mile work in :49 on Monday. He is scheduled to return to the track on
Wednesday.
Fellow American challenger, Anak Nakal galloped Tuesday over the main dirt
track as he continues his preparations. Later in the morning, Tim Poole,
assistant to trainer Nick Zito, accompanied Dubai Racing Club’s Jim Cornes
through a “dress rehearsal” for Saturday. Poole wanted to see the saddling
enclosure and make sure that he and his staff are aware of what awaits them on
Dubai World Cup Day.
“I don’t want to be walking this way, and the rest of the horses are going
the other way,” Poole said.
World Cup contender CASINO DRIVE (Mineshaft), who is Kentucky-bred but owned
and trained in Japan, cantered for 2,000 meters on the main track Tuesday
morning.
His trainer, Kazuo Fujisawa, is one of the more internationally minded
trainers in Japan, and his four-year-old colt won the Peter Pan S. (G2) at
Belmont Park when making his second career start last May. However, he had to scratch
from the Belmont S. (G1) when a stone-bruise on a left-hind hoof was reaggravated. He later returned to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) but
faded to finish last after making the early running. But he appears to have come
into his own in his last two starts with a win and a second-place finish.
“He has completed the last 200 meters in 15 seconds. He is in good
condition,” Team Casino Drive’s racing manager, Nobutaka Tada, commented. “The
quality of the dirt at Nad Al Sheba is similar to the Belmont Park track where
our horse spent a long time last year. It is very cushioned. Casino Drive seems
to have no problem running on the surface.”