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Dubai duo takes aim at Derby
Is this any way to get ready for the Kentucky Derby?
"We'll see what happens," said Eric Coatrieux, an assistant to Tom Albertrani, who is the assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor -- who probably won't show up at the Derby because he's saddling horses in Saturday's 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, England.
The sheikhs who run Godolphin Stable, the Dubai arm of Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum's and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's racing empire, have decided they want to win the Derby. And they want to win it their way, by privately training horses at their track in the desert and keeping them out of traditional Derby prep races.
And if that also means leaving their first Derby horses in the care of the third-string handler, so be it.
Neither Worldly Manner, purchased for $5 million from John and Betty Mabee's Golden Eagle Farm last fall, nor Aljabr, bred on the sheikhs' Shadwell Farm near Lexington, Ky., has raced as a 3-year-old.
Instead, they ran March 21 in a private trial race in Dubai. Worldly Manner, trained by Bob Baffert before the sale, was first and Aljabr second in a field of 10. If either wins Saturday, it would mark the first time since Regret in 1915 that a horse has won the Derby without racing as a 3-year-old.
"It sure is an interesting twist, isn't it?" said trainer Bill Mott, who has been to the desert and won the Dubai World Cup twice with Cigar. "They know what they're doing, they have all the tools to get it done, but we'll just have to see if it's enough. It'll make the race a little more intriguing, though."
Godolphin is one of the strongest stables worldwide, but it's just starting to dabble in Derby fever. This might be the 125th Kentucky Derby, but it's Derby No. 1 for the sheikhs.
"I have always wanted to come back to Kentucky and win the Derby," Sheikh Mohammed said last month at a news conference in Dubai. "Since we formed Godolphin, we didn't think we had the horse. Now we do.
"The Kentucky Derby is the most difficult race to win and this is the main challenge for us. We know how important it is, but if we don't try it, we can't win it."
If they don't win, it won't be on account of a money shortage. They secured Jerry Bailey to ride Worldly Manner, and the jockey reportedly is guaranteed an upfront payment of $70,000, the winning jockey's take from the $1 million Derby purse.
D. Wayne Lukas, who sends out Cat Thief and Charismatic in search of his fourth Derby win, says it's tough to buy the Derby.
"The Dubai group, by my arithmetic alone, have spent some $20 million to get horses to the Derby, and that doesn't guarantee anything," said Lukas. "It's not money geniuses or computers trying to make marriages in heaven, either. There are so many intangibles."
Which is why it's tough to figure what might happen when the gate springs open and an expected full field of 20 3-year-olds go 1 1/4 miles for the first time.
"I like the way they're taking it as a challenge," said Nick Zito, who trains Derby horses Adonis and Stephen Got Even. "They have a lot of obstacles to overcome, but they are putting a new spin on it."
And if one wins?
"If they win, you must take your hat off to them," said Zito.
If workouts count, there's been no indication that Worldly Manner, clearly the better of the Godolphin colts, is capable of winning the Derby.
On Sunday, Worldly Manner and Aljabr were far from impressive. Worldly Manner, who won three of four starts in California as a 2-year-old, went 7 furlongs in a plodding 1:29 4-5. Aljabr, 3-for-3 in races in England and France, worked 5 furlongs in 1:04. On Tuesday, both galloped 1 1/2 miles.
Bailey, a two-time Derby winner, saw the good side of Worldly Manner's Sunday workout.
"He finished unbelievable," said Bailey. "He was very willing, handled the track well and was very relaxed the entire time. I always felt like there was something there if I asked."
Kent Desormeaux, who was aboard Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet in 1998, was supposed to ride Aljabr should Baffert's filly Excellent Meeting not be entered in the Derby.
However, Baffert did enter Excellent Meeting today. That doesn't mean the filly will run Saturday, but it gives Baffert the option of running her in the Derby or the Kentucky Oaks on Friday.
Desormeaux was aboard Worldly Manner in the colt's last race in the United States -- a win in the Del Mar Futurity in September.
"He's a rangy colt, and definitely has what it takes to win a Kentucky Derby," Desormeaux said. "He's got long, fluid strides, and he's powerful. The only question, like with the others, is the stamina."
Another Derby question was answered Tuesday, when a judge in Little Rock, Ark., cleared the way for Arkansas Derby winner Valhol to run. The judge ordered the $300,000 first-prize money awarded to owner James Jackson.
The winner's share was withheld pending a stewards investigation into whether jockey Billy Patin used an electrical device to make Valhol run faster. Patin, who still faces a May 5 stewards' hearing, lost the mount, and Willie Martinez is expected to replace him.