A Journey to Dubai - It was Great!
The moment we have all been waiting for had arrived. It came and went very quickly, in my opinion. After months of planning for this trip, the proposal, and everything else that went along with it, the time has almost come to pack it up, and say goodbye. It may have gone quickly, but boy was it worth the exhaustion, and restless nights on the town.
A big thanks goes out to those involved with getting us set up with where we were going to watch the Dubai World Cup this year.
It just about went to the buzzer, as we were out of luck at getting tickets for this year’s event, but a great friend introduced me to a great new friend, who is an absolute saint in the racing business. He ended up letting us use his hotel room at Meydan to watch the races from the balcony overlooking the entire racecourse. I have to admit, no ticket could have topped where we watched the races at this year. It had it all, from room service to bring us dinner, to our own television for watching coverage, and even a bathroom, so we wouldn’t have to wait in line. My biggest thanks goes out to that person, as well as everyone else, who has helped us out with things over here this week. You all know who you are.
As for the races themselves, every one of them was great in my opinion. They all lived up to the billing, and so much more. Arabian action kicked things off, and for horses that are slightly slower than their Thoroughbred counterparts, it was still a great race to the finish in the World’s Richest Arabian Race.
The Godolphin Mile (G2) brought me back to a few months ago as I watched the entire racing carnival from Dubai while recuperating from knee surgery. The race had the winners of the first two rounds of The Maktoum Challenge, as well as some American invaders, to face a full field of mostly local horses for a million dollars. The double was completed as the second Shadwell color bearer in as many races won it in Tamarkuz. He was not a real surprise as he had won the two local prep races over the course. He is an American-bred by Speeightstown out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare, so who’s to say he won’t return to run in his native land this year? As for the horse I was looking forward to seeing the most which was Bradester; he never looked comfortable from the paddock to racing, and was never a factor.
One of my favorite races was The Dubai Gold Cup (G2), and that is because I am a huge fan of distance races. Starting out from the long chute on the massive turf course, they made their way around once in the two mile event with Brown Panther dominating in the stretch to win this one quite impressively. What was even more impressive was the training job by Tom Dascombe to place this horse in a two mile endurance after a four month absence.
Another dominating performance in The UAE Derby (G2) by Mubtaahij officially put him on The 2015 Kentucky Derby Trail. I do wish that the connections of Maftool would follow him over though as he finished second to him once again, after beating him the previous time the pair met in an ongoing rivalry. It’s believed that trainer Mike de Kock is currently learning the words to My Old Kentucky Home as we speak.
The horses made their way from the long straightaway chute in the short Al Quoz Sprint (G1). The first major surprise of the night ended up being Sole Power under the power of jockey Richard Hughes to get him there successfully.
The first race of the night where it was supposed to be the eye opener that the Americans were back to rule the Dubai dirt was The Golden Shaheen (G1). The Bob Baffert trained Secret Circle finally ended the longest losing streak of his life to win this race in a battle to the end, while breaking the course record for good measure. It looks like this guy is back to his winning ways, and it’s good to see in a sprint division that has been lacking depth in The U.S.A. for quite some time. It was also nice to see California Chrome’s owner Steve Coburn try and fill in the Winner’s Circle as neither the owners nor trainer came to watch the race live. We all thought he was confused and colorblind there for a minute seeing Victor in the saddle on another horse than his own.
Royal Ascot awaits Solow as the Freddie Head trainee continued his winning streak by winning The Dubai Turf (G1). The ladies were the winning ones as a grey exacta came in 1-2 as the fan favorite The Grey Gatsby finished second. We hope these two hook up again at Royal Ascot this summer to hopefully create a new rivalry in grey. One horse to look forward to is Euro Charlene who will hopefully return to America and battle the likes of Stephanie’s Kitten and others for the top turf female spot. She set the pace in the Dubai Turf and faded to finish fourth while holding her ground the whole trip.
Six million dollars was on the line for the second race in a row, and the bettors all but handed Main Sequence the check the way they wagered on him in this one. It was not to be though as Main Sequence had a bad start and was never really a serious contender throughout the race. France ended up cleaning house in the 1 ½ mile Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) with Dolniya beating Flintshire once again, just as she did a few weeks earlier at Chantilly in a prep race. The lesson of this story is to never underestimate The Aga Khan’s fillies as most of his champions have been just that. Could we see her victorious in this year’s Arc just as we have seen his Highnesses’ fillies in years past? Could be, but she will have to get past another powerful mare first by the name of Treve.
The main event was billed up as The Battle of the Americans. That party however was spoiled by Prince Bishop who was aggressively ridden throughout the race to run the competition off of their feet. The Americans ran very well behind to finish second through fourth respectively. It looked as if California Chrome tried to come back at the end, but he was no match for the biggest surprise of the night. I’m not sure where Prince Bishop will be heading now, but the future looks bright for California Chrome once he comes home with that $2 million check for finishing second. I talked to Victor Espinosa in the lounge of the hotel after the races, and he said the rest of the year looks very promising for his mount. He was very encouraged by the way he ran, and so were all the Chromies out there. Whether he is the best horse in America is a debate that has been ongoing since last year. We just hope he stays healthy so we can see if he continues to be one of the best horses in America, so he can hopefully meet Shared Belief once again later this year.
Well, that is it for me and my writing duties for now. I hope that you all enjoyed my four part experience through life and death, and never taking a day for granted. I will finish off this journey by heading to the beach tomorrow before heading home on a 14 hour flight. I think the best thing I can say about the way this trip started by hearing about the death of my beloved father figure Jerry Noss and coming home with my new fiancee is a quote from the movie Castaway. In it, Tom Hanks’ character was talking to his friend after coming home from being trapped on a deserted island for years. His words were: “I have to keep breathing ... For tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide would bring?”
That speech from that movie has reminded me that no matter how depressed I had gotten after battling cancer as a child and watching my Aunt, Mother, and Father succumb to it later in life, that I was saved for a reason. My mother told me that over and over after my sickness up until her death. As I have watched friends and family members go on during the years I realized she was right, and Kristen was just the savior I needed to move on with mine. Three years later, I proposed in the most unique way I could think of on the other side of the world. We both deserve to live life to the fullest and that’s just what we’re doing in my 30th year of existence.
Thank you all for reading, and this is Ryan Brady signing off for Destination Dubai. See you in the States.