Regal Ransom led from start to finish after breaking from the fence under Alan Garcia, the second front-end winner of the night. A Distorted Humor colt, he began his career last year at Saratoga for Kiaran McLaughlin, winning a maiden race there before running poorly in the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita. Regal Ransom had come within a half-length of Desert Party in January, but was soundly beaten over a mile in the UAE 2000 Guineas here last month.
Regal Ransom returned $28.20. The exacta with Desert Party paid $41.20.
This Ones For Phil won the 2009 Swale Stakes after the Disqualification of Big Drama near the wire at Gulfstream Park. Big Drama, on the lead and racing on the inside, veered out and bumped This Ones for Phil twice in the stretch run in the seven furlong stakes for 3-year-old males.
Big Drama crossed the finish line in 1:20.88, breaking the track record of 1:21.11 that Exclusive Quality set in 2006. Under racing industry rules, This Ones for Phil gains credit for the track record.
This Ones for Phil, at 9-5 odds, paid $5.20, $3 and $2.40. Big Drama went off as the 8-5 favorite in the six-horse field. Custom for Carlos finished third, five lengths behind Big Drama. The victory was the fourth in 11 career starts for This Ones for Phil, who is trained by Rick Dutrow.
A Virginia homebred of Edward Evans, Quality Road earned his second consecutive graded stakes win and established himself as one of the top contenders for theKentucky Derby. The victory was the third in four starts for Quality Road, who won the one-mile Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream in his previous start, and was a successful debut for the colt at a two-turn distance. If all goes well, Quality Road will be Jerkens’ first starter in America’s greatest race.
Sent off as the 6-5 second choice, Quality Road paid $4.40, $2.40 and $2.10. The exacta (2-4) returned $9, while the $2 trifecta (2-4-6) was worth $12
Sincero finished fifth, followed by Caseys on Call and Toby the Coal Man.
$6 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race, was a wire-to-wire conquest by American thoroughbred Well Armed at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Well Armed, ridden by Aaron Gryder, was sent off at 9-1 odds in the United States.
Owned by WinStar Farms, Well Armed was the quickest out of the gate and never let any of his 13 rivals a chance to seriously challenge. The six-year-old gelding set a leisurely pace followed by My Indy. 2-1 morning-line favorite Albertus Maximus was running in third and Gloria De Campeao was in fourth.
The 2-1 post-time favorite Asiatic Boy failed to challenge and finished 12th. Albertus Maximus tired down the stretch to finish sixth.
The time for the 2009 Dubai World Cup was 2:01.01.
The 14th running of the Dubai World Cup is held at Nad al Sheba Racecourse this Saturday. The post time of the $6 million race is 1:30 p.m. EST and the races will be shown live in North America on TVG in the U.S. and HPI-TV in Canada, and the full card will be broadcast live online at ESPN360.com. The following is the detailed race information and 14 entries.
Saturday’s $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) has attracted a competitive field of 14 for its 14th running. The crescendo of an all-stakes, seven-race card worth more than $21.2 million, the about 1 1/4-mile World Cup will be staged at Nad al Sheba for the final time.
A total of 85 horses were pre-entered, and once again, the $6 million World Cup’s supporting turf features, the $5 million Sheema Classic and $5 million Duty Free, drew stellar fields. Final fields for all six races will be drawn and post positions assigned on Wednesday night. Here are the possible contenders and future odds for each horse.
Trained by Derek Ryan, Musket Man earned $180,000 for the win and established himself as a contender for the $2 million Kentucky Derby. The final time for 1 1/16 miles on the fast dirt was 1:43.67, a little more than a half-second off the track record set by Street Sense in 2007.
Join in the Dance, sent off at 35-1, was a clear second, 2 1/2 lengths better than 43-1 Justdontcallmejeri. Nowhere to Hide was fourth in a field of ten 3-year-olds. General Quarters, who won the Sam F. Davis Stakes last month over the same track, broke poorly and finished fifth. Post time favorite Hello Broadway, runner-up in the Hutcheson at Gulfstream in January, was a disappointing seventh.
Musket Man raced mid-pack through the early stages of the Tampa Bay Derby, with Perfect Bull setting the pace through an opening quarter-mile in :24.11. Join in the Dance quickly moved in on the early leader and took a short advantage. He got a half-mile in :48.34 and six furlongs in 1:12.45. Bear’s Rocket was also close up for three-quarters before falling back.
Bred in Kentucky by Jim E. Nelson and Sergio De Sousa, Musket Man is out of Fortunate Prospect mare Fortuesque.
Sent off as the third choice, Musket Man paid $13.80, $7.80 and $6. The exacta (2-7) returned $417.40, while the trifecta (2-7-10) was worth a whopping $10,232.20.
In the $100,000 Rushaway Stakes for three-year-olds, Cliffy’s Future came from off the pace to post a 2 1/2-length win. The colt covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.38.
WinStar Farm’s homebred Hold Me Back overcame a poor break to win the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes (gr. II) at Turfway Park in his first start of 2009 for trainer Bill Mott March 21.
The 9-1 shot, ridden to victory by Kent Desormeaux, swept past the even more surprising Flying Private mid-stretch to win by just over one length in the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack test for 3-year-olds. The final time was 1:49.63
Flying Private was a clear second over third-place finisher Proceed Bee, who edged Parade Clown for the show spot. Hold Me Back paid $20.20 for the win and topped a $2 exacta worth a whopping $586.80.
The two favorites in the 12-horse field, West Side Bernie and Bittel Road, finished sixth and 10th, respectively.
Hold Me Back won the first two races of his career as a 2-year-old, but ran fifth of seven in Aqueduct’s Remsen Stakes (gr. II) on Nov 29, his last start. He finished 14 lengths behind the victorious Old Fashioned in the Remsen.
The victory gives Hold Me Back $282,000 in graded stakes earnings.
Mafaaz earned himself a spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby after winning the inaugural running of the $115,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Wednesday.
Churchill Downs sponsored the Derby Challenge on the Kempton synthetic Polytrack surface for the first time this year as part of an effort to boost European interest in the Kentucky Derby. The rest of the Derby field will be determined by graded stakes earnings.
Trained by John Gosden - like Donativum was at that time - Mafaaz had previously won a seven-furlong maiden over the same Kempton Polytrack as the Derby Challenge. He covered the 1 1/8 miles on the right-handed oval on Wednesday night in a pedestrian 1:55.17.
