Dubai World Cup Diaries: Yearbook Awards
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Friday morning was my last chance to see the Dubai World Cup contenders get their morning gallop in before tomorrow’s big day of racing. This week has been such a wonderful experience so far, and it’s hard to believe that it’s almost over. Fortunately, we have a lot to look forward to on Saturday!
Since each horse who came out to train today looked excellent, I thought I’d skip visually evaluating them today and instead I’d assign each horse his own yearbook award based on what I’ve seen this week.
1. Most Popular
Without a doubt, this prize goes to California Chrome. Every time he’d step foot on the racetrack, all eyes (and camera lenses) were focused on him. He’s absolutely the star of the Dubai World Cup show, and he looks every inch the part of a celebrity racehorse. Plus, he genuinely seems to love the attention!
He’s so popular that even the Meydan Racecourse officials were asking to take photos of him:
2. Biggest Hunk
Definitely Keen Ice. What a huge horse he is! Keen Ice was the only horse to beat Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015, and the scuttlebutt around the track is that he’s grown even more since that victory: the rumor has Keen Ice weighing in at about 1,300 pounds, and it looks like every ounce of that is muscle. His exercise rider Tammy Fox looked like she had her hands full this morning persuading Keen Ice to stay at a slow gallop – he’s one strong horse!
3. Most Photogenic
This award has to go to Hoppertunity – my cameras just seem to love him. He’s a beautiful horse with a lustrous golden-brown coat, and his ears are always pricked in alert happiness. I’ve never seen his rider Dana Barnes without a smile on her face when she rides Hoppertunity, even when they’re in full gallop, and the pair is one of my favorites to take photos of in the morning.
4. Most Likely to be Famous
Mshawish has been flying under the radar for the most part compared to some of the other American-based Dubai World Cup runners, but he’s been so impressive training here this week that I wouldn’t be surprised if he snagged some headlines on Saturday. He just looks like a million bucks – or, in the case of the Dubai World Cup, 10 million.
5. Most Mysterious
Unfortunately, this prize goes to Frosted, who is a horse I’m still desperate to see this week! Because the gorgeous grey is owned by HH Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum, Frosted trains at the Ruler of Dubai’s private facility located off the grounds of the racetrack. Probably the most commonly-heard refrain around the press box this week was, “I haven’t seen him, but I’ve heard Frosted looks great!” The great news for Frosted fans is that his trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and owner Sheik Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing have active Twitter accounts, so you can check out photos of the Duabi World Cup contender preparing for the tomorrow’s race through their feeds.
Frosted after visiting the track this morning #DWC16 pic.twitter.com/zFcI6YwLMV
— Kiaran McLaughlin (@KPMRacingStable) March 25, 2016
#Frosted draws stall 9 in G1 #DubaiWorldCup @DRC_Meydan #TeamGodolphin @KPMRacingStable #WilliamBuick #DWC16 pic.twitter.com/vDjI74CzCo
— Godolphin Racing (@godolphin) March 23, 2016
6. Best Dressed
This one’s a tie for me: I’m torn between American-based Dubai Golden Shaheen hopeful XY Jet, the stunning dappled grey who gallops in eye-catching crimson accessories; and his Hong Kong-based competition Rich Tapestry, who trains in what I’ve come to think of as his bug-eye blinkers. Each horse is an attention-grabber, and they’re setting a high bar for international racehorse fashion!
That’s it for my final pre-Dubai World Cup photoblog. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me this week, and I can’t wait to share my experiences on Dubai World Cup day with you tomorrow!