Better days – coming back from the Godolphin Mile victory under Edgar Prado

This soon-to-be 9-year-old has done good things on the track – no need to do more.  Please retire Diamond Stripes.

Sutherland’s simple appearance in the Dubai World Cup is a landmark achievement in her career, just three weeks after notching the most prestigious victory of her career.  A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Sutherland began her career at Woodbine, Canada’s most prestigious track, and has spent considerable time racing in California in recent years.  In 2010, Sutherland was third in the jockey standings at Woodbine, winning 136 races from 875 starts, and more than $8 million in purse earnings.  Sutherland is also known for her breakthroughs in modeling which included a photo shoot in Vogue , and being named to People Magazine’s list of the “100 most beautiful people”.  For more, visit her website.

Twice Over ran a visually impressive race – but the final time was ridiculously slow on a night where the other dirt races were relatively on-par compared to other Carnival times.  That concerns us a bit for his chances on the big night, but we will form a full opinion over the weekend and also develop our projected Dubai World Cup field and initial morning line.

Photo courtesy EERC photographer Cedric Lane

Similar to Twice Over and the connections’ “this is just a prep, he needs more work” warning, trainer Michael Bell did the same for Jebel Hatta winner Wigmore Hall.  Bell went out of his way during a Dubai Racing Channel interview to note how much this race was just the start of a long international campaign, one he would come-on for…then he goes out and runs a big one in, yet again, a slower time than we would expect. 

What we liked from Super Thursday:

-  Bankable showed real heart and got a great leg-stretcher in despite another troubled trip.  Headed back to the grass, he could be dangerous on the stretch out in the Dubai Duty Free.

 - Even though it wasn’t enough, we felt heartened that Win For Sure acquitted our backing well with a decent fourth behind Musir and Gitano Hernando.

 - After Presvis ran a huge Al Rashidiya, a bit of a step back in the Jebel Hatta isn’t crazy in hindsight.  Still, he ran well and progressive enough to think he can really move forward on the big night.

 - Monsieur Joe had some bad luck in running, but still ran a huge race and if he can improve slightly, will be in the mix on the big night.

 - Still of the belief that Musir was not fully cranked for his effort, especially as he was called up to the big race after being prepped for the Burj Nahaar.  Could continue his progression in the Dubai World Cup

What we didn’t like from Super Thursday

 - Happy Dubai could have run his top race here and not in the Al Quoz Sprint. 

 - Mendip didn’t thrill us in the Burj Nahaar and may or may not run on in the Dubai World Cup.  His win was slower than his Maktoum Challenge victory from January, but doesn’t match up to what Skysurfers did earlier in the campaign when winning the Firebreak Stakes. 

 - While Monterosso (pictured below) looked good off the shelf in the Dubai City of Gold, the well-fancied Interaction just gave it up in the stretch and is probably unlikely to make the Dubai World Cup – he was discussed as a possible.

Photo courtesy EERC photographer Cedric Lane

Best chances (not saying they will win, but just the best to come out of the big night) on Dubai World Cup night coming out of Super Thursday:

- Presvis – Dubai Duty Free
- Monterosso – Dubai Sheema Classic
- Bankable – Dubai Duty Free
- Gitano Hernando – Dubai World Cup
- Musir – Dubai World Cup;
- Monsieur Joe – Al Quoz Sprint

Coming this weekend – our amended look at the projected Dubai World Cup field with odds.

The Racing Post has more on Victoire Pisa’s win.

Success at the Carnival is great, but many connections are trying to prep their horses for the big races later in the campaign.  A horse like Gloria De Campeao, last year’s Dubai World Cup winner, was from a camp that had success at the Carnival over the years and was perfectly content with winning anything possible, whenever.  The World Cup win was a great addendum but this was a horse clearly primed for immediate success.  Many are already discussing Mabait, Luca Cumani’s charge who holds an entry in the Maktoum Challenge – Round 1 on Thursday.  The long term goal is clearly the Godolphin Mile (G2).  How much will we see from Mabait first up?  We are willing to let him beat us on Thursday.

HERE is more on Mabait from Racing Post.