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[TABING]

Allah forbid he should cut back a little.

Oh yeah, the Kentucky Derby doesn't have a prearranged winner like the UAE Derby.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/sports/othersports/31derby.html?ref=global-home

March 31, 2009
News Analysis
Sheik Gets Back on the Kentucky Derby Trail
By JOE DRAPE
The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby got a lot more interesting on Saturday when Quality Road ran away with the Florida Derby and the owner of the top two finishers in the U.A.E. Derby, none other than the ruler of Dubai, decided he would try again to capture America�s greatest race.

Quality Road�s victory vaulted him to the top tier of the early favorites� list and once again raised the question of what a Derby contender truly looks like. Quality Road is light on experience, having raced once as a 2-year-old and only four times in his career.

Last year Big Brown won the Derby after three starts and became only the second horse in more than 50 years to wear the blanket of roses after a five-week layoff. The other colt to defy racing history was the 2006 Derby winner, Barbaro. Is Quality Road as precociously talented as those two, who used Florida Derby victories as a springboard?

Jimmy Jerkens, the New York-based trainer who will saddle Quality Road for his first Derby starter, cannot wait to find out.

�It�s a lot of pressure,� he conceded. �But, you know, it�s good to be in that position.�

Last month Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum�s dream of capturing the opening Triple Crown race with a horse prepped in his desert kingdom seemed to be thwarted once more when Midshipman, last year�s 2-year-old champion, injured a leg while training and was taken off the Derby trail.

In 1999 the sheik sent Worldly Manner to the Derby, proclaiming that if the colt did not win the race, one of his horses would do so within four years. From 1999 to 2002, however, his stable went 0 for 5 in the Derby, with a top finish of sixth, by China Visit in 2000.

When Regal Ransom held off his stablemate Desert Party in the U.A.E. Derby on Saturday, the sheik decided to return to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May for the first time in seven years.

�Both horses ran super races and they are legitimate contenders for the Kentucky Derby,� said Simon Crisford, the racing manager for the sheik�s Godolphin stable. �They will ship to Churchill, and we will wait until closer to the Kentucky Derby to decide if both run, or we leave one for the Preakness, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.�

Both colts were purchased by the sheik after showing early promise in America. Both have blossomed in Dubai, where there are stringent drug rules and race-day medications are prohibited.

It will be interesting to see whether Godolphin, as well as the connections for English-based Mafaaz, stick to their drug-free ways for the Derby or take advantage of the more permissive American rules. In 2002, Godolphin�s last Derby appearance, Essence of Dubai ran on Lasix and phenylbutazone, known as bute.

Beyond keeping the subject of drugs in the forefront of discussion about American horse racing, Mafaaz and the colts from Dubai may well keep some interesting Derby contenders out of the starting gate.

They are assured three of the maximum 20 spots � Mafaaz was awarded an automatic berth by capturing the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes in England as part of a win-and-you�re-in promotion. Regal Ransom and Desert Party are now near the top of the graded stakes earnings list, which determines the rest of the field.

Most nervous of all, perhaps, are the connections of the lightly raced Dunkirk, who ran an impressive second to Quality Road in the Florida Derby. It was his first try against top-flight horses and the runner-up finish was worth $150,000 of graded stakes money, but that may not be enough.

The colt�s trainer, Todd Pletcher, blamed a souped-up track for Dunkirk�s defeat, lamenting on national television that if he had known that Gulfstream Park was going to sculpt its oval into concrete he would have waited until Saturday and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

The Gulfstream strip did favor front-runners most of the day, and Quality Road did set a track record of 1:47 3/5 for a mile and an eighth. It also is true that Dunkirk had to close from a long way.

But when the real running started, Quality Road found another gear that Dunkirk did not have. Was it a too-hard surface, or the fact that it was only Dunkirk�s third career race that got the colt beat? Will coming up short keep him out of the Derby?

�We�ll do the right thing by the horse,� Pletcher said. �If he makes the Kentucky Derby, fine. If not, we�ll go on to the next stop.�

Follow Joe Drape�s Triple Crown updates on Twitter: twitter.com/joedrape

[uaeobserver]

Tabing --- MBR is a good, patient businessman.

While he might not own a winning horse, yet --- he owns a lot of the winning pedigrees.......

Some time ago, one of the horse magazines wrote a story on his influence in the beautiful state of Kentucky -----

When someone calls the sleepy airport and requests space for two 747 airplanes (one for people --- another for the horses) --- I think people sit up and tend to notice.

[shameless plug]
I suspect he is just as patient when it comes to human development. On the surface, it looks like it's a wild, urgent mess. Deep down --- he has a deliberate plan, and will end up with a champion education system, one day.
[/shameless plug]