Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

MARCH 30, 2006

by James Scully

World Cup -- DISCREET CAT (Forestry) wowed observers early in the

program and ELECTROCUTIONIST (Red Ransom) capped a tremendous evening of racing

in Dubai on Saturday. With top-class horses from Australia, England,

Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, United States and other parts of the world

shipping in to tackle a deep local contingent on both turf and dirt, Dubai World

Cup Day is clearly one of the best events on the calendar worldwide. Electrocutionist's rousing victory in the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1)

makes him the early favorite for this year's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at

Churchill Downs. Eight-for-10 overall, Electrocutionist's only setbacks -- a

nose second to eventual Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) winner Shirocco (Ger) (Monsun)

in a 2004 Italian Group 1 event and troubled third in last October's Canadian

International (Can-G1) -- both came over extremely soft ground that didn't favor

him. An unknown on dirt entering this year, the five-year-old English and

Italian Group 1 winner proved that he will carry his form on any surface and the

stage is now set for some terrific match-ups between him and the likes of

Hurricane Run (Montjeu [Ire]) and HEART'S CRY (Sunday Silence) in Europe before

he ships to Churchill Downs in October. Japanese star Heart's Cry put on a

smashing performance to win the $5 million Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) earlier on

the program, and DAVID JUNIOR (Pleasant Tap) turned what looked like a

competitive renewal of the $5 million Duty Free (UAE-G1) into a runaway victory.

After rounding out his sophomore season with a stellar win in October's Champion

S. (Eng-G1), David Junior could continue to be a beast at four. Godolphin had

warned pre-race that Discreet Cat might not be ready for this year's Kentucky

Derby (G1), but the colt made a strong case that he belongs in Louisville,

Kentucky, with his spectacular six-length victory in the U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2)

U.S. raiders -- BRASS HAT (Prized), who backed up his Donn H. (G1)

romp with an extremely game effort, battling Electrocutionist in deep stretch

before finishing a clear second in his first attempt at 10 furlongs, was among

the top American performers in Dubai. WILKO (Awesome Again) and MAGNA GRADUATE

(Honor Grades) also both ran well to take third and fourth, respectively, in the

main event, and Grade 1 winner THE TIN MAN (Affirmed) distinguished himself when

finishing second in the Duty Free. As expected, the U.S. contingent was too

strong for their foreign rivals in the six-furlong Golden Shaheen (UAE-G2), with

Grade 1 victor PROUD TOWER TOO (Proud Irish) getting to the wire first as

compatriots THOR'S ECHO (Swiss Yodeler), JET WEST (Western Fame), CAPTAIN SQUIRE

(Flying Chevron) and GAFF (Maria's Mon) rounded out the top five.

Oooo -- Regal bloodlines stamped OONAGH MACCOOL (Ire) (Giant's

Causeway) as a horse to watch when she arrived in Todd Pletcher's shedrow last

year, and the four-year-old is starting to live up to her potential on the

racetrack. An eight-length winner of her dirt debut in February, Oonagh Maccool

earned her first stakes victory with an impressive 2 1/2-length tally over Grade

1 winner SWEET SYMPHONY (A.P. Indy) in Saturday's Rampart H. (G2). Out of the

stakes-winning Alidiva (Ire) (Chief Singer), who is a half-sister to French

Derby (Fr-G1) winner Croco Rouge (Rainbow Quest) and is the dam of English One

Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) queen Sleepytime (Ire) (Royal Academy) as well as

European highweights Ali-Royal (Royal Academy) and Taipan (Last Tycoon [Ire]),

Oonagh Maccool began her career on the turf last year in England, winning her

first two attempts before being sent to the United States. The chestnut filly

dropped her first start stateside on the grass in November, but she's looked

sensational since moving to the main track and earned a 105 BRIS Speed rating in

the Rampart.

Silver -- SILVER CUP (Ire) (Almutawakel [GB]) was 16-1 when opening

her 2006 campaign with a victory in the nine-furlong San Gorgonio H. (G2). She

cut back to a mile for the Buena Vista H. (G2) next out and stormed home to win

to win at 7-1. The betting public finally started to take notice in Sunday's

Santa Ana H. (G2), betting her down to 5-2, and Silver Cup delivered another

sterling performance, winning by a half-length over the highly regarded

Argentina (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who finished second to champion Divine

Proportions in last year's French Oaks (Fr-G1) and was making her U.S. bow for

Bobby Frankel. The runner-up probably wants a little more ground than 1 1/8

miles, but take nothing away from Silver Cup. She's the first distaffer to sweep

all three events at Santa Anita and keeps showing more in every start for

trainer Patrick Biancone.

Smokey -- Kudos to the classy mare SMOKEY GLACKEN (Forestry), who

notched her eighth stakes victory when capturing Saturday's Distaff Breeders'

Cup H. (G2) at Aqueduct. That followed more impressive wins in the First Lady H.

(G3) and Hurricane Bertie H. (G3) at Gulfstream Park, and the James Jerkens-trained

five-year-old has earned a much-deserved freshening before a summer campaign

that includes the Princess Rooney H. (G1) and Ballerina S. (G1). Now 18-10-3-3

overall, Smokey Glacken has recorded century-topping BRIS Speed ratings in her

last seven starts, and she owned plenty of pedigree when she passed through the

2002 Keeneland September sale. Her half-brother, champion sprinter Smoke Glacken,

was one of the leading freshman sires in 2001, and the bay filly hailed from the

first crop of an extremely promising sire, Grade 1 winner Forestry (Storm Cat).

But there was little demand for the well-bred miss when she sold for only

$150,000. She's proved to be quite a bargain for John and Susan Moore.

Rosie -- Maryland racing fans have known who she is for quite some

time, and the rest of the nation should be on alert for Rosie Napravnik -- the

girl can really ride. The apprentice jockey is tearing up the standings at

Laurel Park, winning 80 races since January 1, nearly twice as many as any other

jockey, and she displayed her skills last Saturday aboard OUR PEAK (Peaks and

Valleys) in the Private Terms S. Napravnik rated her mount off the early pace,

swung five wide for the stretch drive and determinedly drove to a neck score in

the final jumps. A two-time winner at Charles Town, Our Peak paid $149.80.

Split screen -- ESPN continually makes Thoroughbred racing fans

suffer. On Saturday, the Lane's End S. (G2) coverage was delayed about 30

minutes due to tennis. A couple of weeks ago, the World Baseball Classic wasn't

near its conclusion when the Thoroughbred broadcast was scheduled to begin. In

the last couple of years, we've missed Thoroughbred racing coverage due to

hockey games, Little League World Series, car racing, X-games, bowling, outdoor

games and other events that I'm forgetting. We can always count on ESPN running

behind, and the network will take over the Breeders' Cup this year. If we're

lucky, we'll get to watch five or six events live on the eight-race program. The

rest will be on tape delay because another sporting event ran too long.