It was a wet morning at Nad Al Sheba, initially spoiling the annual Breakfast With the Stars gathering. The storm clouds parted for a bit and allowed the festivities to commence, but still, it poured. That hurt the quality of some of the photos, but I posted a host of them anyway.
The media huddled under a small overhang near the jockeys quarters while the public scurried under the grandstand cover while the local staff did what they could to salvage some dry tables. Overall, the heavy rain came for 20 minutes and during that time, all major American contenders got their run over the course.
Below, some Japanese media representatives scatter as the heavier rain commences.
ANAK NAKAL (pictured below) continued to strike a pose as he cantered by and both he and WELL ARMED get the week-long awards for best looking horses. A glance at the line however and there is little doubt that Well Armed stands a much better chance, knowing that he actually shows up at the races more often than he doesn’t (see Anak Nakal). That being said, you kust never know when Anak Nakal is going to kick in and I cannot say a bad word about him all week. The press corps has been entranced by the story of assistant trainer Tim Poole (whose wife passed just a few weeks ago), the story of which has been published in all of the major publications here.
ALBERTUS MAXIMUS was tossing his head about while jogging around the clubhouse turn, forcing the exercise rider to niggle at him to keep down. He seems content on the track most of the time but freaked out a bit today for no apparent reason. I show this picture below, even though it is out of focus, to illustrate the point.
INDIAN BLESSING got over the track again well and contrary to traditional belief, her outside draw in the Dubai Golden Shaheen is the best of the race. The way the gate is situated, she has actually drawn the outer running rail and will have the speed of the race, HAMMADI, two stalls to her inside. As 1200 meters races go at Nad Al Sheba, if you are tractable on the outer rail, it benefits you tremendously to have speed nearby, as opposed to all the way across the track on the inner rail. Edgar Prado told South American journalists Pablo Nunez and Diego Mitagstein that he was pleased with the draw in what will be his first foray aboard the 2007 top juvenile filly.
Saudi-based trainer Jerry Barton reported his pleasure with Dubai World Cup contender JOE LOUIS who took another swing around Nad Al Sheba at 6:15 A.M. “I like him, but he’s a good horse in a good race.” He later watched DEEM go around on the main track prior to her Dubai Sheema Classic start and walked away pleased.
The horse who was most impressive today was LUCKY QUALITY, Hong Kong’s chance in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. Under the ever-watchful eye of trainer Me Tsui Yu-Sak, who has ventured to the front-side each morning this week to observe his charge, Lucky Quality blew out four furlongs in an undetermined time, but it looked quality indeed. Let’s give him a chance. Below is a picture of Lucky Quality from earlier in the week.
BLACK SEVENTEEN just seemed generally disinterested in the running over the main track this morning.
DOCTOR DINO (below) continues to go easy on the track no matter what the surface and is my likely pick in the Sheema Classic.
Aaron Gryder (Well Armed – Dubai World Cup, Informed – Godolphin Mile), trainer Musabah Al Muhairi (Snaffy – Dubai World Cup), and assistant trainer Francesca Cumani (Purple Moon – Dubai Sheema Classic, Presvis – Dubai Duty Free) spoke at the Breakfast With the Stars gathering – after the rain, of course.
Sadly, due to the weather, tonight’s Arabian Night party has been moved away from its desert location and is being held at the Dubai International Financial Centre’s trade halls. Having been up around 4:15 A.M. the last four days, I’m not as disappointed.
Tomorrow, a final press conference with a few connections and I’ll be filming a Dubai World Cup preview for the Dubai Racing Channel, hosted by Brett Williams whose blogs have been posted here on several occasions.