By Alan Carasso
Al Shaqab Racing's Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro), who became a Grade I winner on multiple surfaces with a smashing victory in the Donn H. Feb. 6, turned in his final piece of work ahead of the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai World Cup at trainer Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base. Working on his own, the 6-year-old was timed in :58.87, with a final quarter-mile in :22.91 (video), according to Al Shaqab U.S. Racing Advisor Bradley Weisbord.
“He worked just tremendously, really could not have gone any better,” Weisbord enthused. Todd asked [exercise rider] Nick [Rush] to drop his hands for the final sixteenth of a mile and let him finish. He went and galloped out on his own in 1:11 2/5 and 1:24 4/5, which would be the fastest seven furlongs ever recorded at Palm Beach Downs by more than a full second, according to Todd. On a scale of 1 to 10, he worked 200. What was so impressive was not the time, but rather the way he did it.”
Mshawish will be making his third straight appearance on World Cup night, having finished a creditable fourth for trainer Mikel Delzangles in the 2014 G1 Dubai Duty Free S. and third, despite a foot issue, behind Solow (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) in the same race–now named the Dubai Turf–last March. In the World Cup, Mshawish will have to deal with the likes of Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) and Frosted (Tapit), but the Al Shaqab team is looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“We're excited, we wouldn't trade places with anybody,” Weisbord commented. “Frosted and California Chrome have a bit of an advantage in that they each prepped over there, but we chose to go a different direction. We weren't a Grade I winner [on dirt], so we went after the Donn H. and decided to worry about Dubai later, since the Donn was a stallion-making race for us.
He added, “He has come out of [the Donn] great, the spacing between the races is the same as last year, when he went over for the Dubai Turf and there is no reason right now that he shouldn't run his A+ race.”
Winner of the GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. on the lawn in February 2015, Mshawish has performed admirably in his three starts on the dirt. But he will be asked to negotiate 10 furlongs in the World Cup, a distance he has not traversed since finishing fourth in the 2013 G1 Prix du Jockey Club.
“We feel very confident,” Weisbord replied when asked if the team is concerned about Mshawish's ability to see out the trip. “The horse this year is the most rateable he's been in his life. As a 5-year-old he was an extremely hard horse to ride. He sat a perfect trip in the Donn and in the Hal's Hope and relaxed beautifully. He's also able to finish better now, and I think that is the key to him getting a mile and a quarter. I wouldn't have had any confidence in that last year or when he first came over, given the way he was pulling, but he's become smart in his training and smart in his races and it's not a concern.”
And what would a World Cup win mean to Sheikh Joann al Thani?
“The Sheikh has won a lot of very big races, two Arc de Triomphes, but this is probably the most important race in the world for the Sheikh to win,” Weisbord offered. “I think being that Dubai is so close to Qatar and being the richest and most prestigious race in the world, this would mean everything to him. If he can get to the race in the same shape he's in today, we feel he's got a big chance in the World Cup.”
Weisbord reported that Mshawish departs South Florida Sunday evening for Dubai with a stop first in Germany. He is expected to arrive in the desert next Tuesday.
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