The Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby winds back to Meydan Racecourse Feb. 20 for the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes with a big field but without Six Speed, the colt creating the biggest buzz this season in the Emirate.
Churchill Downs ramped up the Dubai part of the series this season, adding the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) and the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes (formerly the Al Bastakiya). The UAE Derby (G2) moved out of the main, United States-based qualifying series to cap this one.
Six Speed, a Not This Time colt, outran the expectations of trainer Bhupat Seemar by dominating the 1,600-meter (about 1-mile) Guineas Jan. 23 for new, U.S-based connections. Seemar decided after that front-running win to wait until the UAE Derby March 28 to see if the colt can get the 1,900 meters (about 1 3/16 miles). The second- and third-place finishers from the Guineas also sit this one out.
That leaves the Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes, run at that same 1,900 meters, to a field of 12, with two nonrunners declared from the original 14 entries. Six of them finished well up the track in the Guineas. Three are maidens. Five are stablemates in Seemar's yard.
Seemar, a former Bob Baffert assistant, saddled Summer Is Tomorrow to a front-running, but ultimately last-place finish in the 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1). Now, he is looking for improvement from Salloom, who won by 6 3/4 lengths going 1,600 meters Jan. 30 after an incident at the start saw him scratched in his intended December debut.
"Salloom is doing great and I think he came out of the last race really well," Seemar said of the Authentic colt, bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall. "He's ready to go again and take his chance but I hope he behaves in the gate. That's the biggest thing."
Any who show improvement at the added distance likely will be considered for the UAE Derby. But that race also is a draw for newcomers, including American horses, looking for a back door to the Run for the Roses. The UAE Derby awards 100 points to the winner, for all practical purposes locking up the automatic bid for the first Saturday in May no matter what happens in the prelims. Friday's qualifying race offers points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis to the top five finishers.
The Euro/Mideast Road returns to England Feb. 25 with the Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton Park and March 6 with the Patton Stakes at Dundalk, both on all-weather courses. For those keeping score at home, the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby resumes Feb. 22 with the Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse.
Meydan Group Races
Early on the evening's Meydan program, the UAE Oaks (G3) has a field of seven, all American-bred fillies. When the UAE Derby was lifted out of the U.S. Road series, the UAE Oaks was left as part of the main Road to the Kentucky Oaks schedule that determines the field for the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1). The winner of the UAE Oaks gets 50 points, equal to seven other races in the Championship Series part of the competition, currently led by Bella Ballerina with 60 points.
The UAE Oaks is largely a rematch of the Jan. 16 Cocoa Beach Stakes with five of the first six finishers from that race returning, including Labwah, a Charlatan filly, and Tjareed, a daughter of Yaupon . Tjareed led in final 100 meters of the Cocoa Beach, caught only in the final strides by Labwah.
The Balanchine Stakes (G2T) at 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) on the grass for fillies and mares features three Godolphin runners—Dubai Beach and Dubai Treasure, both 5, and Blue Nazare, a 4-year-old filly by Dubawi. The latter makes just her second start with William Buick up for Charlie Appleby. Dubai Beach and Dubai Treasure, from Saeed bin Suroor's yard, finished first and third, respectively, in the Cape Verdi (G2T) in their last start Jan. 16.
The nightcap, the Nad Al Sheba Trophy (G3T), is a 2,810-meter (about 1 3/4-mile) test for potential candidates for the Dubai Gold Cup (G2T) on World Cup night. Eight are set to run, including By The Book for Godolphin, which seeks a 12th win in the race.
