Asmussen, McPeek Horses Ready for Dubai Racing

A promising 3-year-old and top sprinter have arrived in Dubai for Steve Asmussen, and Ken McPeek has four horses at Meydan as the two United States-based trainers target not only Dubai World Cup Day races but events at the track's Dubai World Cup Carnival meeting as well.

Asmussen, who has won the Dubai World Cup (G1) with Curlin  and Gun Runner , this year has early Meydan arrivals Tone Broke and Switzerland. L & N Racing's Tone Broke, a 3-year-old, most recently finished fourth in the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 16. Switzerland won a pair of grade 3 races last year for owner Woodford Racing and stayed with Asmussen after being sold last fall to Sheikh Rashid bin Huamid Al Nuaimi.

Tone Broke carries a lot of size and appears to be growing into a substantial frame. A son of Broken Vow  out of a stakes-placed Smart Strike mare, he has a pair of wins from five tries, both at one mile. 

"He has really turned it on the last two months," said Michael Levinson, racing manager and part-owner of L & N Racing. "He started out a little slow, but he is such a big, tall horse, he just needed a few races to get his feet under him. We think he will love the Dubai setup." 

In his stakes debut last out in the $400,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 16, Tone Broke finished strongly and stamped himself as a horse worth watching. Last year Asmussen sent out sophomore Reride to a third-place finish in the UAE Derby Sponsored by Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2).

"Our plan is to run (Tone Broke) in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) on Feb. 7 over a mile and see how he does before deciding what to do next," Levinson continued. "We've always wanted to run in a race in Dubai (on World Cup night). From what we have heard, there is no better racing event in the world. 

"We would like to thank everyone at Meydan for giving us the chance to send a horse over to run in the Carnival. We're looking forward to the race on the 7th and hopefully he'll be in the UAE Derby in March, but we are just taking it one race at a time."

While no concrete plans are set for Switzerland, his likely first race of the DWC Carnival will be the $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) at 1200 meters (about six furlongs) Jan. 31. 

McPeek also has come to Dubai to race. Shipping in a quartet of horses for the Dubai World Cup, he will make history in becoming the first trainer from America to race as early as mid-January in Dubai. His four are made up of Argentine group 1 winner Grecko, graded stakes-placed turf horse Harlan Strong, grade 3 winner Senior Investment—second in the 2017 Preakness Stakes (G1)—and Honorable Treasure, who was second to grade 1 winner Audible in November's $200,000 Cherokee Run Stakes. 

"This is unique in that the horses I'm sending are ideal for the (Dubai World Cup Carnival races)," McPeek said. "Champion Grecko is on schedule for the UAE Derby and Harlan Strong and Senior Investment are headed toward longer dirt and turf handicaps. Honorable Treasure is a nice six- or seven-furlong to a flat mile horse and should fit well in handicaps."

McPeek has sent seasoned assistant trainer Otto Draper to Dubai with his quartet. Draper, on hand when the quartet cleared quarantine Tuesday morning, was pleased with what he saw in their morning exercises—especially with Harlan Strong, who is already entered to run in a $135,000 2,000-meter (about 1 1/4 miles) turf handicap for horses rated 95-105. 

"I was very impressed with how Harlan Strong is doing," Draper said. "He looked great going around there this morning. I think he'll be competitive and it looks like he's in a good spot. All four of these horses that Kenny brought over are horses who look like they should fit really well. I don't know just how tough the competition is going to be, but I'm sure they're not going to be pushovers."