Legacy of Racing Giants Shines in Euro Derby Prep
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Photo: Edward Whitaker/Racing Post
(L-R): Prince Khalid Abdullah with the late trainer Sir Henry Cecil
The final leg of the European Road to the Kentucky Derby looks unlikely to shake up the field for the Louisville classic but it does serve as a bittersweet tribute to two of the giants recently lost to the sport—Dubai's Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Saudi Prince Khalid Abdullah.
Two of the seven entries for the Woodford Reserve Cardinal Conditions Stakes at Chelmsford City Racecourse will tote the blue and white colors of the late Sheikh Hamdan's Shadwell operation. Another will sport the pink and green of Prince Khalid's Juddmonte Farms.
Prince Khalid passed away Jan. 13, a loss followed on March 24 by Sheikh Hamdan's passing. Both organizations carry on and their entries in the Chelmsford race, the final leg of the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, highlight their massive contributions to racing.
Duty of Care, a Juddmonte homebred colt trained by Sir Michael Stoute, is by Kingman , out of the Dansili mare Exemplify—all players in the Juddmonte breeding program—and a half brother to 2018 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Expert Eye . He makes his 2021 debut after winning over the Newcastle all-weather Dec. 21 in his second start.
Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum at Newbury Racecourse
Moraaheq and Qaader both race in the name of Shadwell Estate. Moraaheq is a Shadwell homebred by Speightstown out of the Daaher mare Takrees. Takrees was produced from the Dynaformer mare Uroobah, whose Shadwell roots extend even deeper in the Shadwell program. Qaader is the outlier, coming to Shadwell via Godolphin's Night of Thunder and Coolmore's Galileo through his dam, Forest Storm .
Regal though the bloodlines might be, none of the seven in the Cardinal is an original nominee to the U.S. Triple Crown series and the deadline for $6,000 late nominations was March 29.
If there is any potential in the Chelmsford field for a late individual nomination to the Derby, it might be Decisive Edge, a No Nay Never colt owned by Reddam Racing and trained by Brian Meehan. He was a winner in his second start as a 2-year-old on the Chelmsford City all-weather, then finished 13th in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes (G1) at Newmarket Oct. 10—a key turf test for candidates for the following year's classics. He has not raced since.
Oo de Lally , a Vadamos colt, finished third in the penultimate leg of the European "Road," the Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes at Kempton Park March 3 and returns for this. None of the others has yet made a mark on the series, which began last autumn on the British turf with races never meant to identify candidates for American dirt racing.
The winner of the Chelmsford City heat will earn 30 points and jump to the top of the standings. That would be meaningful only in the event of a late nomination.