The lightly raced Newgate (Into Mischief), last-out winner of the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 3 and Hopkins (Quality Road), narrowly second when last seen in the Feb. 10 GIII Palos Verdes S. at Santa Anita, will ship to Dubai for the G1 Dubai World Cup and G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 30, respectively, SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan confirmed in a message Sunday.
An $850,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Newgate won the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. last February before being sidelined for 11 months. Runner-up to subsequent Palos Verdes winner Big City Lights (Mr. Big) in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance Jan. 6, the bay completed the exacta behind Newgrange (Violence) in the GII San Pasqual S. three weeks later and was most recently up in the final jump to win the Big 'Cap by a head. Trainer Bob Baffert is a four-time winner of the World Cup, most recently with Country Grammer (Tonalist) in 2022.
The commonly owned Hopkins will make his second consecutive appearance in the Golden Shaheen, after finishing fourth, beaten just one length, behind Sibelius (Not This Time) in last year's contest. A $900,000 KEESEP yearling, Hopkins was off 10 1/2 months following his overseas trip, returning to be runner-up after setting a fast pace in a Jan. 19 allowance at Santa Anita and he led deep into the final furlong of the Palos Verdes before being mugged on the money by Big City Lights. Hopkins breezed a half-mile in :47.80 (13/92) at Santa Anita Mar. 9.
Ryan indicated that he and his partners are still in the process of firming up riding assignments.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
