Kentucky Derby 'Roads' Cross in Dubai
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Photo: Mathea Kelley/Dubai Racing Club
Plus Que Parfait is one of three American-based sophomores in the UAE Derby
All three official "roads" to Louisville converge in Dubai March 30 as 3-year-olds that earlier contested the Churchill Downs-sanctioned prep series in Europe and Japan join three Americans and a clutch of locals for the UAE Derby Sponsored by The Saeed & Al Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2).
The race offers 100 points to the winner in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series that encompasses the major North American prep races. The minor placers get points on a 40-20-10 scale for second through fourth. The 1 3/16-mile heat on the Meydan Racecourse dirt track also has implications for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).
The three American runners looking for those points are: Plus Que Parfait, a Point of Entry ridgling trained by Brendan Walsh who already has four points thanks to his runner-up showing in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) in November; Gray Magician, a Graydar colt who accompanies trainer Peter Miller's crack sprinters to Dubai with one point previously earned; and the Doug O'Neill-trained Stubbins (by Morning Line).
Derma Louvre, a Pyro colt, comes to the Middle East as the leader in the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. But with one race left in that competition March 31 at Nakayama, Derma Louvre's 14 points will be eclipsed before the weekend is over. Derma Louvre is nominated to the U.S. Triple Crown and the connections have expressed interest in making the trip.
Aidan O'Brien brings Coolmore's Van Beethoven, a Scat Daddy colt who finished fourth in the BetVictor Patton Stakes on the Dundalk all-weather course March 6, earning two points in the European series. Shadwell Stable's Jahbath, a Mukhadram colt trained in England by William Haggas, won the Road to the Kentucky Derby conditions stakes March 6 at Kempton, netting 20 points.
Van Beethoven is a Triple Crown nominee; Jahbath is not, although his owner, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, certainly could afford a late nomination fee.
Much of the attention in the UAE Derby, however, will be on Scat Daddy filly Divine Image. Racing in Godolphin blue, Divine Image moves to the UAE Derby after winning the UAE Oaks Sponsored by Range Rover (G3), which secured her a spot in the Kentucky Oaks. A win or second in the UAE Derby would put owner Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasheed Al Maktoum and trainer Charlie Appleby in a position to choose between the Churchill races.
Although the Oaks is the likely goal for the filly, a Kentucky Derby trophy is one of the few baubles still missing from Sheikh Mohammed's trophy case—and not for lack of trying.
After the UAE Oaks, Appleby gave Divine Image a test against male 3-year-olds in the Al Bastakiya Sponsored by Emirates.com on Super Saturday, and she won by 7 1/4 lengths while eased in the stretch by jockey Brett Doyle.
"She came through her last race with flying colors, and she mentally looks as though she is improving with each outing," Appleby said March 26. "She has done nothing but please us since, and I was delighted with her last start there against the colts. She has come out of that race very well, and I am pleased we went back and ran her again.
"People might have questioned why we would run her back again before the Derby, but after speaking to His Highness, we all felt it was the right decision to allow the filly to gain more experience before the big occasion," Appleby added.
Godolphin also has Swift Rose, an Invincible Spirit filly who was a longshot runner up in the Oaks.
Walking Thunder, a Florida-bred Violence colt, won three straight races for the Phoenix Ladies Syndicate—a new ownership entity that has been wildly successful in its first season of operation. Walking Thunder was second in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas Sponsored by Al Naboodah Ashok Leyland Partnership (G3). He is one of three in the race for trainer Ahmad bin Harmash, who has engaged Frankie Dettori to ride.
Dettori has the most wins, 19, and most rides, 113, of any jockey on World Cup programs.
Bin Harmash also has Golden Jaguar and Superior and credited Emirates Racing Authority for programs that allowed him to keep all three apart up to the Derby.
"It's good for everyone to be able to find the right opportunity over a short season," he said.
Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Amer Abdulaziz said a top finish by Walking Thunder would earn him a Derby trip. They're not thinking Kentucky Derby for Golden Jaguar and they're undecided on Superior.