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HANDICAPPING INSIGHTS APRIL 2, 2015 by Dick Powell What a crazy 24 hours of racing. Between Australian racing at Randwick Friday night into early Saturday morning, the Dubai World Cup card Saturday and then Fair Grounds and Gulfstream Park hosting 14-race marathons, lucky for us New Yorkers that state law forbids horse racing wagering Palm Sunday. I need a rest. Saturday morning began with the first Thoroughbred race from Meydan in Dubai around 8:40 a.m. (ET). Tamarkuz (Speightstown), winner of his last three starts over the new dirt main track, used post 1 to his best advantage despite his customary slow start. Paul Hanagan took over in the stretch and had to overcome a furious rally from Sloane Avenue (Candy Ride) who was breaking from post 15. According to Trakus, Sloane Avenue raced eight feet farther than Tamarkuz and after the race, his trainer Jeremy Noseda could not contain himself. Trying to resist the temptation that he felt the draw was fixed, Noseda told the international simulcast feed, "I'm just gutted about the draw," said Noseda. "As soon as I got that draw I knew I would need a miracle and we nearly pulled it off. "The horse did great and it was a great ride by Frankie (Dettori), but it was impossible with that draw. I don't know how a horse (Tamarkuz) gets drawn in stall one or two in four consecutive races. I've got no doubt Sloane's the best horse in the race and he didn't win. I'm just a bit upset with the draw as I think it's cost him. I don't want to, but I feel like a bad loser after that." When the major races are drawn in Dubai, the customary pill system is not used but is replaced by a computerized process that randomly assigns post positions. Noseda, in the heat of the moment, questioned how random it was. I am sure he will calm down, but it was interesting to hear what was on his mind. Tamarkuz, besides post one, had the advantage of having four races over the Meydan dirt to prep for this. Historically, we have seen that the horses that race in the Dubai Carnival have an advantage on the big night even if it seems like they are moving up in class. I was lucky enough to be at Nad al Sheba when Asiatic Boy (Not For Sale) won the 2007 U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) with a stunning display of acceleration in the stretch. Eight years later, Mike de Kock sent out another special three-year-old racing in Sheikh Mohammed bin Khaliffa's colors and Mubtaahij (Dubawi) was every bit as impressive. Sitting in behind dueling leaders while saving ground on a dirt track that was playing much tighter than expected, Christophe Soumillon tipped him three wide with a quarter-mile to go and he exploded to an easy eight-length victory. Unlike Asiatic Boy, who was bred on Southern Hemisphere time and not eligible for our classic races, de Kock stated after the race that Mubtaahij's next start would be the Kentucky Derby (G1). Like Tamarkuz, Mubtaahij had four races over the Meydan dirt to get ready for his U.A.E. Derby victory. Sole Power (Kyllachy) is a neat eight-year-old that has won races everywhere but Dubai. Winner of two Group 1 sprints last year and voted Ireland's Horse of the Year, he was winless in seven Dubai starts over the years before Saturday's Al Quoz Stakes (UAE-G1) going five furlongs on the turf straightaway. Richard Hughes produced him on the grandstand side from the back of the field and he was much the best, and Sole Power is the odd come-from-behind turf sprinter that does better at five furlongs than six. Secret Circle (Eddington) won the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) two years ago and was a game second last year. Now at the age of six, Bob Baffert shipped him to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) and he was a head winner. Victor Espinoza kept him three wide throughout and despite not having a race over the dirt track, Secret Circle was able to prevail. In what was becoming a bizarre night, Secret Circle was brought back to the winner's circle. Baffert and co-owner Mike Pegram were not in attendance but who wandered into to it like he was the owner was none other than California Chrome's (Lucky Pulpit) co-owner Steve Coburn. The only connection I could see was he was ridden by Chrome's rider Espinoza. And, Coburn was an American and an American horse won. I can think of a lot of Americans that were present at Meydan other than him to have his picture taken. Depending on the exchange rate, the $6 million Dubai Turf (UAE-G1) and Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) could be the most lucrative races run on turf this year. In the Dubai Turf, Freddie Head raved about Solow's (Singspiel) chances based on his four straight victories. However, this was his Group 1 stakes debut but under an extremely confident Maxime Guyon, Solow took over on the outside in the stretch and won as he pleased in the good time of 1:47.76 for the 1800 meters (approximately 1 1/8 miles). For Head, the trainer of three-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) winner Goldikova, it's another horse that can compete against the top middle distance horses in the world. Like Goldikova, Solow races for the Wertheimer brothers, Alain and Gerard. It should be another fun year for the Head family as Freddie's sister, Criquette, will try to make history this October when Treve(Motivator) goes for her third straight Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1). The Sheema Classic was next and it was quite simple. Main Sequence (Aldeberan) wins with Lasix and doesn't without it. Flintshire (Dansili) should have won the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) when Main Sequence got the jump on him and then went to Hong Kong to win a Group 1 in December. Flintshire was second in his prep for this on a synthetic track at Chantilly but it was the winner of that prep that shined here. Christophe Soumillon sent Dolniya (Azamour) up after the lead out of the gate, yielded to Just the Judge (Lawman) and sat the inside pocket. Soumillon had her perfectly relaxed and despite others making wide moves, never hit the panic button. In the stretch, One and Only (Heart's Cry) began to weaken from his first-over position and that was all Soumillon needed. Dolniya quickened before the rest knew what hit them and she cruised to a 2 1/4-length victory over Flintshire. It was classic Soumillion riding and the newly-turned four-year-old filly will have the Arc as her target as long as the course does not come up soft. The $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) was the finale and the result might have been more predictable had we just stuck to the "race over the track" angle. Instead, I liked Hokko Tamurae (King Kamehameha), a Japanese dirt specialist that had earned over $8 million. He raced up on the pace and weakened late while Jose Espinoza had California Chrome four wide on the outside. William Buick had Prince Bishop (Dubawi) towards the rear of the field and bided his time while saving ground around the first turn. Just like in the final round of the Maktoum Challenge (UAE-G1) last month, Prince Bishop showed a strong turn of foot once he tipped to the outside and had a clear run. California Chrome was not keeping up and Prince Bishop went right on by while opening up an improbable lead. California Chrome held well to be second while Lea (First Samurai) was an even third. At the wire, Candy Boy (Candy Ride) flew home and nipped Hokko Tamurae for fourth so the Americans finished second, third and fourth although Candy Boy is no longer American-owned and now races for Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Eight-year-old Prince Bishop had never raced on dirt until this year and like anything else, was able to handle it with experience and training. Too often we expect miracles the first time a horse tries something new and we do not take advantage of a horse's adaptability and intelligence if it doesn't do it right the first time. Even at the age of eight, trainer Saeed bin Suroor was able to teach this old dog some new tricks. After the race, and before the world's largest fireworks display was about to begin, California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn had his foot back in his mouth as he waxed about another perceived element of unfairness in the racing game. First, it was the unfairness of horses like Tonalist (Tapit) skipping the first two legs of the Triple Crown and taking advantage of those that competed in them at the Belmont Stakes (G1). I didn't have too much of a problem with that but here he was again, after a loss, at a moment when he should be pleased as punch with how well his horse ran, lamenting how they got there recently and did not have enough time to acclimate to the track and surroundings. The book was written by Steve Asmussen on how to ship to Dubai when he took Curlin over early, got a race over the Nad al Sheba track, then came back a month later to romp in that year's World Cup. Nothing stopped California Chrome from going over early other than California Chrome's connections. Okay, Coburn is new to the game but is starting to run out of benefits of the doubt. But then he absolutely dug himself another hole when he talked about them shipping to Dubai and challenged Sheikh Mohammed to do the same and race in America. Uh? Everyone, even Coburn, is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. Coburn now goes on the mute list. When they open their mouth, I hit the mute button. Thankfully, the day of racing at Meydan was rescued by Prince Bishop's owner, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. He donated the entire $6 million first-place prize to the Dubai Autism Centre of which he is the chairman. Fantastic! Gulfstream Park began its 14-race marathon at noon on Saturday and the listed post time for the last race, the $1 million Florida Derby (G1), was 6:48 p.m.. Considering that all meet they never ran a race within four minutes of the listed post time and sundown was scheduled for 7:17, this was going to be interesting. The field of nine left the starting gate at 6::59 and complicating the dwindling daylight issue was how slow the track was paying. Just like when the Fountain of Youth (G2) was run, the Gulfstream Park main track was deep and tiring due to a strong wind that was evaporating the water that the maintenance crew was putting down. By the time the Florida Derby rolled around, the times of the races had slowed dramatically and the inside part of the track seemed to be the deepest. From post nine, even-money favorite Upstart (Flatter) was wide around the far turn where he stayed for the entire race. Materiality (Afleet Alex) went up after the lead under Johnny Velazquez and disputed the pace with longshot Jack Tripp (Flatter) through fractions of 48.24 for the half and 1:12.51 for six furlongs. Jose Ortiz had Upstart poised on the outside and around the far turn, it was just those two in contention -- Materiality on the inside and Upstart on the outside. Somewhere inside the eighth pole, Materiality veered out and Ortiz reacted by pulling Upstart to the outside. On the pan shot, it was hard to tell if there was contact so we would have to wait to see the head-on replay when the stewards took a look. With the sun setting and the big crowd expecting the toteboard to start blinking, the race was declared official as the horses just started to head back around the clubhouse turn. Goodnight everybody! Have a safe ride home. Don't stop; nothing to see here. Somehow after the race, one of the outriders that is in communication with the stewards, radioed in that there were no claims of foul by the riders. The race was declared official and that was that. It was like when Joe Pesci's character got whacked at his "induction" ceremony in Goodfellas. "And there was nothing we could do about it." I waited for the replay to be shown on the simulcast feed and they did show the head-on one. It didn't show conclusively whether a foul had occurred and the reality was that had they conducted a proper inquiry, they probably would have ruled the race official with no change to the order of finish. What was unacceptable was the circumstances around the decision; not the decision itself. Since when do the riders decide the outcome of an inquiry? Even if there were a mechanical failure, the stewards are supposed to be able to make up their own minds without the input of the riders. When did you ever hear about a rider copping to a foul? "Yes, judge. I cut him off turning for home. I don't know what got into me and promise not to do it again." Not going to happen. It is up to the stewards to adjudicate the incident and it can be done without little if any input from the riders. This was not a rush to judgment -- this was no judgment at all. How they could have made their decision in such a short period of time was impossible and to say that they did is an insult to the industry. Horseplayers have their own levels of paranoia but how else could a rational person feel after Saturday? There was a big crowd, the races were running behind schedule, the sun was going down and now an infraction happened in front of the big crowd. Do we stay and not only get it right but prove to the betting public that we took the time to get it right or do we just make it official and go home? Any horseplayer worth his salt knew what was going to happen. We have seen it numerous times under different circumstances but inevitably we accept it since there is nobody to complain to. Florida doesn't really have a racing commission but a Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering. An investigation should be conducted with interviews of the stewards, track management, the outriders and Ortiz and Velazquez. Develop a timeline and determine not only what happened but how can it be prevented from happening again. If you believe that will happen, say hello to the Easter Bunny for me next Sunday.
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