Asiatic Boy romped him in the 2000 Guineas prep before taking the main trial, the Al Bastakiya, and then dominating the UAE Derby (G2).  His last win was in the third round of last year’s Maktoum Challenge (G2) where he defeated Happy Boy and stable companion Art of War.  Six of his seven lifetime wins came over the Nad Al Sheba strip. 

After some decent efforts in the US, including a second in the 2009 Stephen Foster (G1) at Churchill Downs, the Argentine-bred was sent to his native land where he will stand the 2010 season privately.

Click HERE for more from Thoroughbred Times.

#10 – Ajtebi scores a homegrown double
The 2009 Dubai Duty Free and Dubai Sheema Classic could not have been more different races.  In the end, the same jockey rode both winners as former camel jockey Ahmed Ajtebi became the first native Emirati to ride a winner on World Cup night.  Just minutes after making all the running in a Duty Free blowout aboard Gladiatorus, Ajtebi flew home over the outside of the Sheema Classic field with Eastern Anthem to land consecutive $5 million races, this one, by a nose.

#9 – Asiatic Boy becomes first winner of the UAE Triple Crown
He arrived from Argentina with a win and a placing from two lifetime starts, when he left the Emirates, Asiatic Boy had his name in the record books.  A Mike de Kock trainee, Asiatic Boy’s 2007 campaign included a conditions event win before landing the triumphant trio of sophomore events, the UAE 2000 Guineas, the Al Bastakiya, and the UAE Derby (video posted below).

#8 – Paolini and Right Approach provide a Duty Free deadheat
The judged stewed over the photograph of the 2004 Dubai Duty Free finish  for what seemed like an eternity, but in the end, could not separate Paolini and Right Approach in a ding-dong stretch duel that saw both horses fly home over the field from the rear.  While they exchanged bumps, no action was taken and the race stands as the only heater in the history of the World Cup meeting.

#7 – Curlin wins at the Dubai International Racing Carnival
This decade saw the growth of the DIRC into a top class race meeting where Dubai World Cup meeting contenders prepped.  Prior to Curlin’s demolition of the 2008 Dubai World Cup, trainer Steve Asmussen sent the son of Smart Strike to get a feel for the local conditions, knowing that his performances tended to improve when making a second trip over a course.  His win in an otherwise ordinary race gave the Carnival an added level of credibility on the global stage as an American Horse of the Year made his first start of a multiple graded stakes winning campaign amidst the dunes of Dubai.

#6 – Madjani makes it three-in-a-row
The purebred Arabian won three consecutive Dubai Kahayla Classics beginning in 2005, wholeheartedly dominating the breed for the decade.  His dominance over his competition, a fiercely contested group, especially in the UAE, was respected by the Nad Al Sheba crowd when, in 2008, the 8-year-old failed to completed an unprecedented fourth win in the race.  Mizzna, a mare, took a two length win but when Madjani returned to the walking ring to be unsaddled, the crowd obliged with an applause deserving a champion.

Winner of the 2009 Godolphin Mile (G2), Two Step Salsa will be back at that same distance in Saturday’s Salvatore Mile (G3) at Monmouth Park.  The race is the first American “Win & You’re In” qualifier for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup, with the winner of the Salvatore Mile earning a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.  Eight are entered for the Salvatore Mile, including likely favorite Smooth Air, second in the Met Mile (G1) at Belmont in late May.  Two Step Salsa was beaten more than sixth lengths in his first start since the Godolphin Mile victory when fourth in the Tom Fool Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park.

Asiatic Boy, racing for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, will carry 122 pounds with Alan Garcia aboard, the lightest impost since his maiden campaign in Argentina.  The son of Not For Sale, formerly trained by Mike De Kock, will also be medicated with Lasix for this nine furlong event which drew a field of seven others. 

Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein is the top-weighted favorite and is seeking to become only the second horse to win Grade 1 races on dirt, turf, and a synthetic surface.  The Helen Pitts-Blasi trainee won the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill on the Kentucky Derby undercard. 

It is difficult to hypothesize on Asiatic Boy’s likely performance here as his 2009 campaign is the least-credentialed in his lifetime.  The Stephen Foster marks only the 16th appearance in his lifetime but his final Dubai World Cup prep, the third round of the Maktoum Challenge (G2), appears, in hindsight, to have been a relatively weak renewal.  Asiatic Boy’s appearance in America seems an attempt to revive a career that has clearly been best served on dirt.  While he is likely to improve second off the layoff, Asiatic Boy is 6-years-old and intact, and his connections will surely keep that in mind if his performances are not up to par.

Arson Squad, 11th in the 2009 Dubai World Cup, returns in the Stephen Foster also, carrying 118 pounds.

This year’s Dubai World Cup was a different story as the former Mike De Kock trainee came home a distant twelfth following a slow start and a somewhat impeded trip.  Now with Kiaran McLaughin, Asiatic Boy has had two solid workouts at his new home track, Belmont Park.  Asiatic Boy has 15 lifetime starts with seven wins and earning in excess of $3,000,000.

Click HERE for the original article from the Thoroughbred Times.

Should Asiatic Boy make the Stephen Foster, he is likely to tussle with 7-year-old Einstein, the recent winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, part of the Kentucky Derby undercard.  Trained by Curlin’s original trainer, Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein is quite possibly the top all-surface older horse running in America.  A win in the Stephen Foster would make Einstein only the second horse in history to have landed Grade 1 wins on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces.

Samantha Siegel of Jay Em Ess Stables reported this week that Arson Squad, eleventh in the 2009 Dubai World Cup, is expected to make his return in the Stephen Foster.