Gloria De Campeao Had His Mind On Racing In Dubai

Gloria De Campeao did a volte face in the Dubai World Cup. He set an easy pace while unpressed but held gamely when confronted in the lane. He won the worlds richest race by a dirty nose and claimed the lion's share of the $10 million purse. His game racehorse gambit was in stark contrast to his Arlington Million run were he put on a show for all to see:

Before the Arlington Million the Brazilian bred Gloria De Campeao put on a show in the parade. For about 10 minutes he ran around with his head about one foot off the ground and cocked to left with his mouth wide open teeth exposed like a rabid dog. I don't know what he was doing but it didn't look like he had his mind on racing. This was a long way to come for a horse to go out and goof around on the track like a big baby.

Congrats to Gloria De Campeao's connections for having the faith to persevere with him. Surely traveling all the way from Singapore to Chicago via France and having the horse goof off in the parade is very discouraging and a tremendous waste of time. They based this horse in Dubai all winter and he rewarded trainer Bary by running a heck of a race. These are connections with tremendous patience and they were rewarded with an the largest purse in the history of horse racing.

Girolamo The Future Stakes Winner

If you want to know the who the most likely winner of the 2009 Jerome handicap will be, it is Godolphin stables' Girolamo. Girolamo displayed a wealth of racehorse prowess during Sunday's eighth race at Belmont. Not only does this colt possess blazing speed, but he has the class to rate kindly and the mind of a champion. Only an alpha male can cruise up to the lead like that and take such pleasure out of dominating out front. When a horse has all of these characteristics a stakes win is not a matter of "if" but "when". My intuition is that he will target the Jerome Cap' like his stablemate Discreet Cat and like his brilliant stablemate, a win looks like a certainty. Excuse me while I go out on a limb but if his form holds up we could be looking at the 2010 Dubai World Cup winner. This horse is an extraordinary talent and the pedigree assures that he will stay the classic trip.

Dubai World Cup Card 2009

If every racecard was like this the sport people in the gambling versus sport racing debate would win hands down. This outstanding card features 48 graded/group stakes winners. The intrigue is provided in that the horses arrive from six continents, it is a showdown on a global scale.

This is the rare kind of card that I can watch without having a stake in the outcome. However like most times I do have an opinion and I will take the opportunity to pari-mutually express that opinion. The forecast is calling for thunderstorms and reduced visability so keep an eye on the sky.

Dubai World Cup GI

This race more than any other of the great globally recognized group stakes is dominated by favorites. Typically the favorite is the big American horse or the big Godolphin horse. This year the big horse will be neither. Michael DeKock is holding all the trump cards with Asiatic Boy. This horse loves the track, has been prepped the right way for the race and loves the distance. There is no monster like Curlin to usurp his glory



In the pari-mutuel pools that are available for Americans there should be fair value on Asiatic Boy. Over the years the American horses have been grossly underlaid in these pools. A sterling example is Lavaman who was 5-2 a few years ago in the Dubai Duty Free who finished a no-hope last. For the world cup I am going to askew the win pool for my prime wager and make my home in the exacta pool. I feel that Albertus Maximius is not up to the task and will either be the favorite or a well bet second choice. I feel that Bert Max will be out of the frame, opening up value for a longshot to spice up the exacta.

World cup exacta Asiatic Boy Keyed over Happy Boy, Well Armed, Casino Drive, Joe Louis, Muller, Paris Perfect and My Indy

Exacta 4 / 5,7,8,9,11,13,14

Sheema Classic GI

This star studded field features twelve graded/group winners. The cream should rise to the top here as they have twelve furlongs to decide who the cream is. For my money I may play a multi-race wager that leads into the world cup. The class horses here are Youmzain, Purple Moon, Quijano, Doctor Dino and Kirklees. If you can afford to go five deep you can rest assured you have the winner. If you want to bet one horse take the price on Purple Moon, he has shown that he is up to the task and he should improve second time over the course.

Dubai Duty Free G1

This is a good race to start a pick 3. Like the Sheema Classic count on the class the rise to top. If we can beat Kip Deville here we should start off with some value.

My $1 Pick three that starts in the duty free will look like 3,4,8,10,12,13,15,16 / 6,7,10,13,14 / 4 = $40 wager

Dubai World Cup Winner Curlin to the Turf?

Tremendous performance by Curlin in the Dubai World Cup manhandling his opponents with ease. He won with absolute authority, so dominate that John Murtagh said. "The winner is a monster." After wins in the Breeders Cup Classic and now Dubai World Cup Curlin has very little to prove on the dirt. The trainer and owner seem to be the sporting kind of connections that the game dearly needs. Racing fans should be pleased that the connections are harvesting the rewards of keeping Curlin in training. This sets a positive precedent for other connections to race their top class American horses past the sophomore season. Many horses have pulled off the Breeders Cup/Dubai World Cup double. Why not do something exciting that will distinguish Curlin as one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses ever? Now that Curlin has absolutely proven his dominance in the worlds two biggest dirt races why not try the turf?



A turf campaign would be an exciting close to Curlin's career and a conquest that would endear him to a worldwide audience. Possible targets could be the Arlington Million, then a ship to France for a prep and then the Arc De Triomphe. Here is the best part for team Curlin there is no pressure if they try the grass. When Curlin runs in the Arlington Million, he has a built in excuse as a dirt horse so there is little pressure to perform well. However if Curlin dominates on the turf like I suspect he will , his reputation raises exponentially without any risk. This horse is so good and so classy that he is like racing legends such as Dr. Fager, Round Table, John Henry and Secretariat, these are horses that could transfer dominant dirt form into world class turf form. Running the table on this schedule would lock the Dubai World Cup winner as one of the greatest of all time. Why has no American horse taken on the challenge of the Arc? Curlin is the first American horse that is up to the challenge in some time. Jess Jackson is proud to be a fourteenth generation American, and as a wine making mogul how satisfying would it be for him to bring home Europe's greatest race? Alexander the Great did not become Alexander the Great by sacking the Sardis over and over. Alexander expanded his territory and took on new challenges. Curlin has the potential to be Curlin the great if the connections have the courage to take on new challenges.

Dubai World Cup Card

The Dubai racing club assembled a real humdinger for the Saturday evening Dubai World Cup card. Rarely will a card have over 10 Group/Grade winners and this card has 59 grade/group stakes winners. The class is being dealt out often and in spades.

The late pick 3 has a cumultive purse of $16 million dollars. Going to try to nail this pick 3.

Race 5 Dubai Duty Free- This is where I am going to single. #10 Literato is an absolute machine and has won 9 of 11 mostly in group competition. The win in the Group I Champion stakes confirms his class and the cutback to 9 furlongs should have him running powerfully in the lane. Class turf runners that win race after race are the most reliable horses to wager on and this is where I will hang my hat. The Godolphin home teams claims the the Duty Free for themselves. If Literato scores the game will get very interesting for my interests.


Race 6 Dubai Sheema Classic- This 12 furlong turf classic features a field with 9 Group or Grade 1 placed horses, one of the best races held anywhere in the world in 2008. This is the race where I feel value may be found. Going to spread out in this leg of the sequence, including as many as possible. Latency, Quijano, Sun Classique, Youmzain, Better Talk Now, Oracle West, Viva Pataca, Mourilyan, Doctor Dino and Gower Song have all proven that they belong and a deep spread might find a big price and the keys to a score. The vital form factors in a race like this are class and distance ability.

Race 7 Dubai World Cup- This looks like a possible walkover for Curlin and I agree that he is a formidable favorite in a race that has been dominated by American shippers at a short price. In this sequence the vast majority of pick 3 players will have Curlin singled. I too will be one that singles Curlin on my main ticket but the unexpected happens in horse races, so I will try to make the unexpected my friend. With the unexpected in mind, I will play an alternate contingency ticket that uses Premium Tap, Jalil and Vermilion just in case racing luck shines a bad light on Curlin.

Dubai Pick 3 Ticket A 10 / 1,2,3,5,6,10,12,13,15,16 / 12

Dubai Pick 3 Ticket B 10 / 2,3,5,12,15 / 6,7,8,12

Dubai Modern City Embraces Racing

There is no place in the world right now building and expanding like Dubai. This is truly a now city, in the way that New York was a now city in the early part of the 20th century or Athens back in the 5th century B.C. Most of the Dubai infrastructure has been built since 1990 and the city is growing up and out on a daily basis adding new construction and new population. Dubai is at a major crossroads of trade. It is a meeting point of goods and services between Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. It is good for the future of racing that it is an integral part of the Dubai culture. Sheikh Maktoum uses racing as a primary tourist attraction in the Go To Dubai campaign. Compare that to New York where racing is marginalized and rarely mentioned as a tourist attraction. Most tourists would hardly be aware that Aqueduct or Belmont is a world class racing facility easily accessible from Manhattan. The new Meydan racecourse under construction promises to be the grandest racing facility in the world, you can count on the Dubai World Cup to continue to be a major target on the racing calender.

Year after year the Dubai World Cup is expanding its profile and it has become the dominant late winter top class racing event in the world. The fields are more global than the Breeders Cup and represent a large cross section of Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Africa. Saturday's upcoming Dubai World Cup card may just be the most exciting card run all year any where in the world. As Dubai continues to expand its profile on the world stage it is good that racing has secured a spot in one of the most important international cities.