DUBAI THEY SAID IT
MARCH 25, 2011
“There are top-class horses in the field and any of them are capable of
winning, but if she has a little luck and no one will box her in, she must win,
and I can confirm she has the talent to win. For the Japanese people who are now
having a difficult time, I would like to say that racing is my answer. What is
going on is very terrible, and I suppose horse racing lifts them.”
jockey Ryan Moore
sounds bullish about the chances of BUENA VISTA (Special Week) in the Dubai
World Cup (UAE-G1)
“Ryan (Moore) asked me to ride her today. He watched many videos of her past
performances and he knows her very much, so I did not say anything to him. I
think her performance in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (Jpn-G1) (at about 1 1/4 miles
on turf, going left-handed at Tokyo) is her best performance, and if she can
race like the Tenno Sho, she has a big chance.”
Katsumi Yoshida
of Northern Farm, Buena Vista’s owner/breeder, strikes a similar tone
“It’s in God’s hands now. He seems to be in good order and I hope he can put
his best foot forward. (To win) would be the icing on the cake — he’s done
everything we’ve asked. Just to be back a second time, to have a bite at the
cherry again, is great.”
Shane Ryan of
Castleton Lyons, owner of World Cup contender GIO PONTI (Tale of the Cat), keeps
things in perspective
“I’m very happy. He moved well from the beginning.”
trainer
Christophe Clement after watching Gio Ponti gallop easily on Friday
“One good aspect of the fog is that it’s keeping the temperature down for
us.”
assistant trainer
Tim Poole on the limited visibility at Meydan Friday morning, which prevented
him from seeing much of FLY DOWN’s (Mineshaft) jog in advance of the World Cup
“He was cracking right along yesterday. He was just a little bit fresh, and
he plays. Today he’s very switched off, which we thought he would be.”
trainer Neil
Drysdale on Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) hopeful BOURBON BAY (Sligo Bay [Ire])
“I am training now, but it is the same as with Michael (Jarvis) before — we
do not like to go for big races if we don’t have a chance.”
Roger Varian, who
just took over the head training job from the retired Michael Jarvis, on Sheema
runner LAAHEB (Cape Cross [Ire])
“No kidding, everything has gone perfectly since he’s been here. The horse is
in great shape and he has drawn an ideal gate in 2. The only query I have with
him is how good he is over the extra furlong and whether that will find him. He
has three Group 1 wins at a mile at home, but at the 1800 meters (about nine
furlongs) he is less proven. I think he can get it and he will fight all the
way.”
trainer Tony Cruz
on BEAUTY FLASH (Golan [Ire]), Hong Kong’s threat in the Dubai Duty Free
(UAE-G1)
“His best day yet. He’s gotten better every day and today he was perfect. (He
has) a genuine European turn of foot for three-eighths of a mile. I certainly
wouldn’t be bringing him here if I didn’t think I had a chance to win.”
trainer Eoin
Harty on Duty Free contender VICTOR’S CRY (Street Cry [Ire])
“That’s probably how I’ll be remembered — they’ll probably put that on my
tombstone! I was thrilled to win that race, it was very special, not just
because of my associations with the al Maktoum family, but because as a horse
Well Armed had to overcome such a lot — he had a knee injury, and then a
cracked pelvis, and his owners took him away and nursed him back to health. They
had their own personal sufferings too — winning was in a way a cathartic
moment.”
Harty on the fact
that he sent out Well Armed to romp in the 2009 World Cup, the final one held at
old Nad al Sheba
“We just walked him today. The main thing here is to keep him fresh and
happy. He runs better like that.”
trainer Carl
O’Callaghan on KINSALE KING (Yankee Victor), who will mount a title defense in
the Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1)
“Euroears is doing great. He’s never been on the all-weather before, but he
has been training well on it, but you really just don’t know how they’ll go
until they race on it. On a dirt track Euroears can show his speed and put
distance between himself and the others, but on a synthetic it’s not always the
case. It’s a long ship over here, and everything has to go right, but everything
has gone well and there have been no hiccups with him.”
trainer Bob
Baffert on Golden Shaheen contender EUROEARS (Langfuhr)
“You need a very good horse to win over here, and you need luck too. I sent
over another very fast horse Indian Blessing a couple of years back, and thought
she couldn’t get beat, but she did (finishing second in the 2009 Golden Shaheen).”
Baffert
on learning how to take nothing for granted on World Cup Day
“They are kind of different. With the Derby you have got a sense of all that
history that goes with it, something that you’re aware of as a kid. With the
World Cup it’s an international occasion, more like the Breeders’ Cup.”
Baffert compares
the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Dubai World Cup experiences
“My wife told me to behave myself, so I am.”
Baffert on why
he’s keeping a somewhat lower profile this time in Dubai
“This is the best horse I have ever owned. I will never have one like him
again. Let’s hope we can break the streak tomorrow.”
Fred Crabbia, the
owner of Golden Shaheen favorite ROCKET MAN (Viscount), who has missed narrowly
in four international Group 1 races
“Of my two horses Sunny King has worked the best since arriving. He is
finding this just like he does at home. Darren (Beadman) galloped him and said
he is handling the turns like he has been doing it every day of the week. I
imagine the race will set up some very slick early sectionals which will
hopefully set up the finish for the closers.”
trainer John
Moore on SUNNY KING (Desert Sun [GB]), who will line up with stablemate Dim Sum
(Kyllachy) in the Golden Shaheen
“He’s been here about two months and to my eye he has only improved. When he
won the Group 3 (Al Shindagha) Sprint here last time he had only just been in
Dubai a few days, but he’s really at home in the place now and seems even
better. We missed the race on Super Thursday because we were told he would get
into this race without having to run then, and I felt it was best to keep him
fresh. In the race I am hoping Olivier (Doleuze) can sit just behind the pace,
kick in the straight and finish strongly. I am pretty hopeful.”
trainer Ricky Yiu
on Golden Shaheen runner DYNAMIC BLITZ (Elusive Quality)
“That horse is so talented, I don’t think you’ve gotten to see the best of
Sweet Ducky yet. He was perfectly sound; we never had an issue with him. That’s
the part you miss, knowing he’s going to get better. But it’s part of the
business that it is a business, and when you can take a profit you do, and that
makes some of the mistakes you’ve made or horses that might have gotten hurt a
little bit easier pill to swallow.”
former trainer
Kelly Breen on SWEET DUCKY (Pulpit), who makes his first start for new owner
Ramzan Kadyrov and new trainer Herman Brown in the U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2)
“You really need to walk it and learn it or you’re going to get lost. Thank
God for Carl (O’Callaghan). One day he took us through the paddock and holding
barn and showed us.”
Alexis Barba,
trainer of Godolphin Mile (UAE-G2) runner MAKE MUSIC FOR ME (Bernstein), on how
fellow trainer Carl O’Callaghan helped her find her way around the vast expanses
of Meydan
“My nerves? I’m OK. I’m obviously excited to have my first runner in Dubai,
so I’m a little bit anxious. As we would say in racing though — I’m still on my
feed and water!”
Singapore-based
trainer Michael Freedman, who will send out BETTER BE THE ONE (More Than Ready)
in the Al Quoz Sprint (UAE-G2)
“I think my horse is well — I can’t really see him!”
trainer Richard
Chotard quips about the difficulty of finding Al Quoz entrant MAR ADENTRO (Marju)
amid the fog
“I love horses like this guy because he doesn’t want to eat grass over there
when there’s people over here. He’d rather just hang here and hope he can hustle
somebody for treats. And, if anybody wants a cuddle, he’s always up for that, or
a smooch.”
assistant trainer
Michelle Nevin on the endearing qualities of Al Quoz contender STRADIVINSKY
(Stravinsky)