O'Neill Detours Around Baffert Traffic on Derby Road

The unofficial "Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby" is more of a detour lane Feb. 10 at Meydan Racecourse as trainer Doug O'Neill swerves around the Baffert traffic jam in California to start Tall Boy  in the U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas (G3).

The race is key among six Thoroughbred affairs on the program, several of which are sprinkled with potential candidates for Super Saturday or Dubai World Cup night March 25.

The Guineas itself carries no weight with Churchill Downs. But it leads directly to the U.A.E. Derby (G2) and that race does offer 100 Derby points to the winner and 50 to the runner-up, more than enough to ensure a spot in the Louisville starting gate.

Tall Boy remains a maiden after four starts but the O'Neill camp hangs its hat on his last race, a fourth-place finish in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). That said, Tall Boy still may face a tall order in his first start of the season and after a long trip, considering he was beaten 9 1/2 lengths in the Futurity, lacking any response in the stretch, and finished ahead of only one horse.

On the bright side, three of his rivals in the Futurity were from the Baffert barn and he won't face any of that formidable herd in this Dubai race. And, the one horse he did beat at Los Al was Baffert's Arabian Lion .

"The reason he's in Dubai is because we think he's capable of being pointed to the U.A.E. Derby," said O'Neill assistant Leandro Mora. "He has two Kentucky Derby points already and we like him because he's run three tough races against Bob Baffert horses. He's a gentle giant with a lot of talent."

Tall Boy was bred by Rockingham Ranch and races for Calumet Farm. He is by Lookin At Lucky  , who was trained by Baffert to win the 2010 Preakness Stakes (G1), out of the Scat Daddy  mare Madame Mayra .

Tall Boy is not the only U.S.-owned contender in the Guineas as Doug Watson fields Shirl's Bee for owner Charles Fipke. Fipke bred the Bee Jersey   colt, who won his only previous start at Meydan Dec. 23. There's little doubt about hopes for that one.

"Shirl's Bee would be the most interesting of our runners on Friday," said Watson, a seven-time U.A.E. champion trainer. "He has been training well and we like him a lot. He has a good draw and we're really looking forward to seeing him run."

Both Tall Boy and Shirl's Bee are among 369 early U.S. Triple Crown nominations.

The locals will be out in force for Tiger Nation, a Tamarkuz   colt who is 2-for-2 and won the U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas Trial in his latest. Others will have something to prove at this level. But there are no Arabian lions on the horizon in Dubai yet. Maybe by Arabian night on Friday that will change.

While the Two Thousand Guineas is the cream of the evening's crop, at least one other race should have implications for World Cup night. The Blue Point Sprint (G2) at 1,000 meters (about five furlongs) on the grass has a proven field of 13 and a proven record of preparing contenders for the Al Quoz Sprint (G1) on the big night.

Rivals from England, Ireland, and the Czech Republic will challenge local favorite Lazuli , who warmed up for the Meydan Sprint with a victory over course and distance in January, and Man of Promise , second last time out in the listed Dubai Sprint. Those two have faced off twice, each winning once.

Charlie Appleby trains both Lazuli and Man of Promise. This race will have special meaning for him as he trained Blue Point , who won the event in 2019, starting a five-race winning streak, the last three of them grade I events, to wind up his career.

"Lazuli is tried and tested over five furlongs at Meydan and this is his optimum trip," Appleby said. "He is in great form and, even with his draw in stall one, he has speed horses around him and looks the one to beat.

"Man of Promise ran a good solid race over this distance in the Dubai Dash and seems to be taking his racing better these days."

Czech invader Ponntos  finished third behind Lazuli in their last race. Irish trainer Johnny Murtagh, a first-timer at the Carnival this season, is represented by the filly Ladies Church , who gets some needed class relief after reporting seventeenth in the Flying Five Stakes (G1) back home last time out.