With the 2016 Dubai World Cup Carnival drawing towards its conclusion, Thursday evening’s meeting and Super Saturday, provide connections final opportunities to prove their horses worthy of an invitation to run on Dubai World Cup night.
Godolphin’s Very Special falls into that category and she faces six rivals in this evening’s official feature, the Group 2 Balanchine Stakes.
Restricted to fillies and mares, the 1800m turf highlight is a race trainer Saeed Bin Suroor has won twice before, most recently with Sajjhaa. She won this, under a penalty, in 2013 having already claimed the Group 2 Cape Verdi, over 1600m, as did Very Special four weeks ago and she is penalised accordingly.
Sajjhaa went on to win both Super Saturday’s Group 1 Jebel Hatta and Group 1 Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night. A restructuring of the fixture list makes that impossible, with the Jebel Hatta being run less than 24 hours later this year, but the World Cup night feature, now called the Dubai Turf, will be a viable target if she wins well on Thursday night.
Bin Suroor said: “She has thrived since arriving in Dubai and won the Cape Verdi well. The extra 200m will suit but the penalty does make it a tougher task.”
Very Special, 4yo f by Lope de Vega (Shamardal) o/o Danehill mare Danielli, won Cape Verdi S at Meydan for Godolphin; sire’s newest SW
— Tom Hall (@lordatwar) February 4, 2016
Of her six rivals tonight, five were well beaten in the Cape Verdi with Marco Botti-trained Euro Charline the only ‘fresh blood’ in the race.
A Group One winner, she was fourth in last year’s Dubai Turf – her main UAE target again – so it is unlikely Botti will have her fully wound up with three weeks for that race.
Bin Suroor also has a good record in the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy, also on turf but over 2810m. The race has been contested six times, with the Godolphin handler responsible for half of the winners.
His Famous Kid faces 13 rivals in a wide open renewal which features a clash between the first five home in a course and distance handicap staged a month ago. Bin Suroor’s horse was third on that occasion but is weighted to reverse form with both the winner, Battersea, and runner-up, Paene Magnus.
Bin Suroor said: “This has been a target for him since the outset of this year’s Carnival. He stays well and is in good form at home. “Course and distance suit him and he should be very competitive in an open race.”
Trained by Roger Varian, Battersea was receiving weight from those around him in that handicap, with Star Empire, fifth for Mike de Kock, another certainly likely to finish closer on the revised terms.
Only three have been declared for the Group 3 UAE Oaks, over 1900m on dirt, with De Kock introducing Vale Dori for a belated UAE debut.
A Group One winner in her native Argentina, she was injured early in the year and has missed the first eight weeks of the Carnival.
She will need to be at her very best though to lower the colours of UAE 1000 Guineas heroine Polar River, unbeaten after three starts for Doug Watson. Her three wins have been achieved with a staggering aggregate of just over 31 lengths.
Watson said: “She is in great form and a really exciting filly to have in the yard. Fingers crossed she can win this and then go to the UAE Derby.”
The meeting opens with the Group 1 Purebred Arabian Maktoum Challenge III, over 2000m. The 2200m round II victor, Haajeb, should be thereabouts with Wayne Smith again riding for Nacer Samiri.
