U.S.-Bred Queen Azteca Victorious in UAE Oaks Thriller

The UAE Oaks (G3) has twice in recent seasons produced fillies to run in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and Queen Azteca  could do the same after a thrilling win in this year's renewal.

The Feb. 21 1,900-meter (about 1 3/16-mile) dirt race wasn't an easy watch for trainer Niels Petersen, however, after Queen Azteca, who had beaten most of these rivals in the Cocoa Beach Stakes, left it late under jockey Carlos Lopez. She looked an unlikely winner at the top of the stretch, needing all of it to get there and deny pacesetter Arigatou Gozaimasu  by three-quarters of a length.

"It was a bit more stressful than I thought it would be!" Petersen said, who is a 13-time champion trainer in Norway. "I didn't think Arigatou would be the one to step up, after last time, but both fillies ran great races.

"From 50 meters out, I thought we had a good shot at it when Arigatou stopped a little, so maybe it looked easier than it was."

With her victory, the 3-year-old daughter of Sharp Azteca  collected 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, placing her in the top slot on the Oaks leaderboard. Bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm, Queen Azteca sold for $22,000 to Justin Rea at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale before passing through the ring again as a 2-year-old in 2024, bringing approximately $39,467 to Edgar Byrne at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale.

Queen Azteca began her racing career in Norway, breaking her maiden by five lengths in her third career start at Jägersro in September. Sent to Dubai for a winter campaign, she ran second in the Shahama Stakes ahead of her eight-length blowout victory in the Cocoa Beach Stakes Jan. 17.

"It's a big racing scene here and we come from little Norway, so to pull it off is a huge achievement," Petersen said. "I think all of Scandinavia was cheering us on today."

Sharp Azteca, a grade 1-winning son of Freud, stood at Three Chimneys near Midway, Ky., until being relocated to Japan's Shizunai Stallion Station for the 2024 breeding season. 

Choisya Spoils the Dream for Cinderella

The presence of Cinderella's Dream , 2-for-2 at Meydan and a grade 1 winner, made the night's official feature, the Balanchine (G2T), a quality affair.

Cinderella's Dream's trainer Charlie Appleby stated before that she wasn't fully tuned up for this, with bigger targets later on, and maybe that was what caught her out. Ridden by William Buick, she threatened in the straight but failed to catch the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Choisya , who completed the big fillies' turf double by adding this to her Cape Verdi (G2T) success.

"Today there was much more pace early on," said winning jockey Mickael Barzalona, who made all the running in the Cape Verdi. "I was happy to sit in just behind the leaders. When we hit the straight, I asked her to pick up and she did so very well.

"It's always a huge advantage for jockeys when horses can be in different positions and today she won because she's very versatile."

The Crisfords enjoyed a double on the card, initiated when a superb Pat Dobbs ride got Magnum Opus home in race 3, an 1,800-meter turf handicap.

Dubai Future Rolls Back the Years for Bin Suroor

The most popular winner of the night might well have been the evergreen Dubai Future , who gave Saeed bin Suroor his first Meydan win for two years in the Nad Al Sheba Trophy (G3T).

The 9-year-old, remarkably running at his sixth Carnival but off the track for more than a year, was given a hold-up ride by Silvestre De Sousa. However, he passed the rest of the field easily in the straight, winning by 4 1/2 lengths and gaining automatic entry to the Dubai Gold Cup (G2T) on Dubai World Cup day April 5.

"He had a little bit of a setback last year which is why he didn't run," said Bin Suroor. "I didn't want to lead with him today as it was his first time back after a break, so I told him (De Sousa) to go in behind.

"He'll now go straight to the Dubai Gold Cup."

Another going to the big night is Galactic Star  who will head to the UAE Derby (G2) after winning the listed Al Bastakiya, a course and distance prep over 1,900 meters on dirt. The Bhupat Seemar trainee, ridden by Richie Mullen, was always close to the pace and had just enough left to repel British challenger and hot favorite Heart of Honor  by a head.  

"I always knew they liked this horse a lot," Mullen of the son of the late Improbable. "He's got his quirks but he's full of ability and talent. There were question marks over the trip but Bhupat said ride him as if he gets it.

"It helps if they're going two turns because they come back to you a bit easier going into that first turn and horses can just relax a little bit more than they do over a mile."