National pride And Please provided some North American interest on Saturday night of the February 17 Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan Racecourse—but for very different reasons.
Nations Pride, a Godolphin bred by Teofilo , began his 4-year-old season at the Dubai Millennium Stakes (G3) after a hugely successful summer in New York. Please, a gold coin dirty, transportable California to play the UAE Oaks (G3) with just one win in five home starts.
The Dubai Millennium is a stepping stone to bigger turf races towards the end of the Dubai season and, for the Pride of Nations, it is likely that there will be more international travel. The Oaks is a foot of Churchill Downs Road to the Kentucky Oaks and coach Doug O’Neill looking in that direction.
Coach Charlie Appleby, who has won this race six times, including with Royal Fleet in 2022.
Nations Pride finished second in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes G1T) last summer, followed by victories in the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and the Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes (G3T) before finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T). The last two are at 1 1/2 miles.
“There will be some improvement to whatever he does on a seasonal return, as we expect that he has another international campaign ahead of him this year. Depends on how he arrives. Here, we will look at the possibility of looking at Jebel Hatta or Dubai Lawn,” added Appleby.
Jebel Hatta (G1) runs 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) on Super Saturday, March 4. Dubai Turf (G1), always a tough international race, is held at night. Dubai World Cup (G1) March 25 in the same trip. The difference is the wallet – $350,000 for Jebel Hatta versus $5 million for the Dubai Turf.
Protests to the Dubai Millennium include another herd of Appleby’s Godolphins, Ottoman fleet and a fee Saeed bin Suroor, desert fire . The Ottoman fleet started the Dubai season for the third time after finishing in third place while the Desert Fire needed a serious wake-up call after Meydan’s two disappointing starts.
UAE Oaks, on paper, looks like Mimi Kakushi will lose. Like Kentucky City of light she won in her last two starts, including a jaunt in UAE One Thousand Guineas.
“She will have the advantage of distance so I believe if she runs in the same race as the Thousand Guineas, then she will be the winner,” coach Salem Bin Ghadayer said. “It’s almost the same field except for the little American girl. We had a nice draw and we’re hoping she’ll have a nice race.”
“Dirty American,” Ami Please, took the lone win in October going a mile on the track. Santa Anita pitch. She then finished runner-up, six miles behind the long-distance winner, in the Pike Place Dancer Stakes above Golden Gate Fields grass. Her final effort in 2022 saw her finish third in the Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita, also on the same pitch.
“She’s a beautiful girl. Very talented,” said O’Neill. “She tends to run equally well on land or grass. We’ll know more about her in two days.”
UAE Oaks offered 50 Road to the Kentucky Oaks to the winner with the next 4 receiving 20, 15, 10 and 5 respectively. When asked if a good performance would lead him to steer Ami Please back Atlantic to Kentucky or not, O’Neill said, “That would be a fair assumption, yes.”
O’Neill also trains Tall Boy , winner of the UAE’s Two Thousand Guineas (G3) on February 10, who is getting ready for a spot in the UAE Derby (G2) on World Cup night. The Looking Lucky The foal suffered a 0 to 4 in California as a child but put on an impressive run to win the Guineas.
“He’s knocking on the door here (California) but he keeps running into all those good people — Bafferts,” O’Neill said of the pony, who was only 17 hands behind. “We’re optimistic.”
The 24th Feb Carnival is the last day before Super Saturday and features a Balanchine (G2) Bet for mares and mares—another prep for the Dubai Lawn.
