UAE 2000 Guineas

Mendelssohn Bay (Mendelssohn), whose sire won the 2018 G2 UAE Derby by an Arabian desert in track-record time and whose broodmare sire Curlin counts the G1 Dubai World Cup amongst his conquests, stalked a good pace and kept on gamely through the final 200 metres to win Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan Racecourse. Ridden forward by Pat Cosgrave, the Bhupat Seemar stable's second string sat just outside of pacesetting Military Artist (Munnings), as that one took the Guineas field along at a decent tempo. Asked to come after...

7th-Meydan, AED82,500, Maiden, 2yo, 1600m, 1:38.92, ft. SHIRL'S BEE (c, 2, Bee Jersey--Shirl's Soul, by Perfect Soul {Ire}) was the subject of some pre-race buzz and turned in a tough debut effort to stamp himself one to watch in next year's 3-year-old events in Dubai. Nicely into stride from gate two, the homebred colt appeared set to challenge for the lead at the rail, but was taken hold of by Pat Dobbs and immediately began to overrace. More settled as they raced past the half-mile marker, Shirl's Bee faced a...

Azure Coast (Street Sense) was plucked out of the Gainesway consignment at Keeneland September in 2020 by owner Vladamir Kazakov for $65,000, and that has proven to be an inspired purchase with the colt now three-for-three and a stakes winner after taking Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas on his black-type debut. Debuting over a mile in Moscow in September, Azure Coast came home a six-length winner. He resurfaced at Meydan for trainer Pavel Vaschenko in December, dropping back to seven furlongs to win a conditions race over the Meydan dirt...

Mouheeb (Flatter) was a $400,000 selection at last June's OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds In Training, and started out with plenty of expectation riding on his shoulders being a full-brother to the GII Swale S. scorer and GI Champagne S. and GI Malibu S.-placed Favorable Outcome (Flatter), and a half-brother to the listed-winning and multiple graded placed Bellamentary (Bellamy Road). Mouheeb got off the mark on debut on Dec. 18 in a Jebel Ali maiden before finishing a head second to Godolphin's dual winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in...

Two-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill made the ground-breaking move of sending a string of around a dozen horses to train at Meydan and tackle the three-month Dubai World Cup Carnival this season, and the Southern California-based conditioner got off the mark in the desert on Thursday when Fore Left (Twirling Candy) went gate to wire in the one-mile G3 UAE 2000 Guineas. Fore Left carries the colours of Paul Reddam, who also owned both of O'Neill's Derby winners, I'll Have Another (Flower Alley) and Nyquist (Uncle Mo). Fastest...