Hit Show

With Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) already back galloping following his upset victory in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup--more on him shortly--trainer Brad Cox will be well-represented by a pair of older horses on Saturday that could make some noise of their own in the handicap division this year. Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense), a fantastic third while launching his 5-year-old season off the bench in the GIII Razorback H. Feb. 23, is the 2-1 program favorite in the $1.25-million GII Oaklawn H. in...

Around this time last week, Case Clay, U.S. racing manager to the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing, was trackside at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, closely monitoring the operation's two Thoroughbred entries for the Dubai World Cup meeting--Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the main event and Flood Zone (Frosted) for the G2 UAE Derby. Clay hot-footed it to the airport after the races to board a Sydney-bound A380 for the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale and spent a few days there before heading back to...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- In most circles, Saturday's G1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline was but a foregone conclusion. The star of the show was widely expected to be Japan's Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), a pair of placed efforts in America the only thing separating the colt and a perfect record. A brilliant winner of the G1 Saudi Cup about 600 miles of desert away six weeks ago, Forever Young surely had his World Cup rivals over a barrel. Any one of them would need...

9th-Oaklawn, $110,000, Msw, 3-28, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:44.75, gd, 1 length. MONEY GAME (c, 3, Candy Ride {Arg}--Miss Bling Bling, by Tapit) debuted with Lasix as a 7-1 shot here. The homebred was in no hurry out of the blocks and he trailed the field heading into the first turn. With a half-mile clocked at :47.03, the colt began to engage and he started a sweeping attack run around the the far turn. The chestnut's power was evident as he collared fellow firster and Triple Crown nominated Super Cruise (Uncle...

Lucky Seven Stable and Sharaf Mohamed Alhairi's Rattle N Roll (Connect), who rallied from the back of the back to finish a creditable fifth to Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Saudi Cup on Feb. 22, has officially been invited to participate in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse Apr. 5, trainer Ken McPeek tweeted Mar. 21. The 6-year-old failed to draw into last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic and was rerouted for the GII Clark Stakes Nov....

9th-Oaklawn, $131,000, Alw (NW2$6MX)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 3-14, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:44.62, ft, neck. DISARM (h, 5, Gun Runner--Easy Tap, by Tapit) returned to the races against a seasoned field of allowance rivals here, and got the job done as the 2-1 second choice with favoritism going to Group 1-placed Bendoog (Gun Runner) at 9-5 odds. Stalking the development in front of him from fourth, the 'TDN Rising Star' watched it all unfold through :24.07, :48.30, and 1:13.08 splits with Bendoog never far away. The looming danger turning for home, Disarm...

GIII Gotham Stakes winner Flood Zone (Frosted), a new addition last week to the TDN Derby Top 12 after a 98 Beyer figure in the Aqueduct race, will reportedly be routed to the Apr. 5 G2 UAE Derby at Meydan, according to a post on X from DRF's Marcus Hersh. Trainer Brad Cox had also been considering the Mar. 29 GI Florida Derby and the Apr. 5 GII Wood Memorial Stakes for Flood Zone, who made his first start for the Cox barn in the Gotham after he was purchased...

With less than five weeks remaining to Dubai World Cup night at the sprawling Meydan Racecourse Apr. 5, the American challenge for the $12-million main event is coming together, with at least two U.S.-based middle-distance gallopers targeting the 2000-meter contest. Wathnan Racing's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has come out of his distant third-place effort to 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) in Saturday's GI Santa Anita Handicap in good order and connections have accepted an invitation to the World Cup, Case Clay, Wathnan's U.S. advisor, confirmed Sunday. "Will pow-wow...

'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) has always been highly regarded. By one of the nation's hottest sires and sold for $425,000 as a 2022 Keeneland September yearling, he affirmed that regard with a Grade I win at two. Sent to the sidelines for nearly a year before coming back to win the GII Cigar Mile Handicap in his only stakes start at three, he opened his 4-year-old campaign with a second to White Abarrio (Race Day) in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park before shipping...

Flood Zone (c, 3, Frosted--Curls for Girls, by Curlin) is heading straight into the deep end. Purchased privately by Wathnan Racing and transferred to Brad Cox following a flashy maiden win versus Florida-breds going 6 1/2 furlongs at second asking at Gulfstream Park Jan. 4, the bay will stretch to a one-turn mile for Saturday's GIII Gotham Stakes at the Big A. The Gotham, co-headlined by unbeaten New York-breds 'TDN Rising Star' Sand Devil (Violence) and Sacrosanct (Honest Mischief), offers 105 points (50-25-15-10-5) on the road to the GI Kentucky...

Florent Geroux, who won both graded stakes Saturday on the "Road to the Derby Day" card at Fair Grounds, earned 'Jockey of the Week' for January 13 through January 19 by a vote of the panel of racing experts.The weekly honor recognizes jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild for significant riding accomplishments. Riding for Brad Cox, Geroux first guided Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) to victory in the GIII Louisiana Stakes and then took the GIII Lecomte Stakes aboard Disco Time (Not This Time) to close out the...

A total of 1,123 entries, including 81 Group or Grade I winners from no fewer than 21 racing jurisdictions from all over the world were received for the 2025 Saudi Cup meeting, to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22 and King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. The entries were released Friday by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA). (See TDN Europe for the entries to the meeting's turf events) Some $38.1 million in prize money will be on offer over the course of the weekend, headed up...