Red Cadeaux, Planteur in good shape for World Cup

Red Cadeaux, Planteur

Red Cadeaux has made his mark on various points across the globe and the Hong

Kong Vase winner will bid to add the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup to his

haul this Saturday.

Ed Dunlop's reliable seven-year-old scored in Hong Kong last December on the

back of a tour which saw him finish mid-field in the Japan Cup and Melbourne Cup

-- 12 months on from his agonizing defeat by the shortest of margins in the

latter event.

Despite his high air miles, Red Cadeaux took a few days to adapt to local

conditions having left the cold of Newmarket, England, behind but is beginning

to thrive.

"We decided to bring him out early to allow him to acclimatize with the

weather being so different to back home," said Dunlop's traveling head lad,

Robin Trevor-Jones. "For the first few days he wouldn't eat as it was so hot but

he is now back on his food and his work rider said he felt as good today as he

has since he arrived. "We did a gentle canter over 1800 meters (Tuesday) and we

may work him on the grass on Wednesday or Thursday.

"It is the end of long season for him but he is so versatile. This if a

different challenge for him but we know he will be staying on at the end having

gone so close over longer trips elsewhere.

"He has not run on the Tapeta before but has form on the all-weather in

England and has won on heavy ground at the Curragh and has form on quick ground

in Hong Kong so I don't think the track will be an issue."

For Newmarket trainer Marco Botti, Planteur's tilt at the Dubai World Cup

signals an important cross-roads within his upwardly mobile career. The

six-year-old horse represents Botti's new purpose-built stable and an

increasingly influential new owner in Qatar's Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Botti moved into Prestige Place stables only last month, since when the

trainer has saddled a pair of Listed winners -- notably Planteur's triumph in

the Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield on February 23. The horse's sale to Sheikh

Joaan, son of the Emir of Qatar, was completed the following week.

"Things have gone very well since we moved in," said Botti's wife Lucie, who

is overseeing Planteur's Dubai World Cup preparation. "Naturally, we are hoping

Planteur can be the stable's first really big winner."

A six-year-old son of Danehill Dancer, Planteur was noticeably warm under the

saddle-cloth when exercising on the main track March 26 but Botti said, "He

always sweats freely so it is not a worry. And you can't blame him: he has just

arrived from all that snow in England."

Planteur matched his career-best performance when finishing third in last

year's Dubai World Cup, when he closed strongly from the rear in a modestly-run

race. But his recent Lingfield triumph was gained in front-running style, since

connections were keen to explore how he would perform if ridden more

aggressively.

Asked whether Planteur could replicate those tactics in the Dubai World Cup,

Botti said, "That could happen, but we would be just as happy to sit behind the

pace if it is decent and honest. The horse is coming into the race in good shape

and we hope he can run a bit faster this year. We must also hope for a bit of

luck with the draw."

Botti's Prestige Place stables is the culmination of two years' planning. It

embraces a state-of-the-art treadmill and an equine swimming pool, and it would

be apposite for Planteur to anoint the luxurious equine facility by winning the

Dubai World Cup.

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