Masquerade Ball and Jantar Mantar Ruled Out Of Trip To Dubai

[Wandering Eyes]

The Shadai Race Horse Company, which owns Masquerade Ball (Duramente) and Jantar Mantar (Palace Malice), has confirmed that neither horse will travel from Japan to the Dubai World Cup meeting, citing the uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Iran and across the Middle East.

According to a report on the Nikkan Sports website, the stakeholders of the racing club reached their decision “based on the ongoing uncertainty regarding the smooth transportation to Dubai and the difficulty of ensuring the safety of horses and riders due to the lack of a clear end to the conflict.”

Masquerade Ball, who was last seen running a close second in the G1 Japan Cup, had been due for a rematch with the winner Calandagan in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, while four-time Group 1-winning miler Janta Mantar was set to run in the G1 Dubai Turf.

The four-year-old Masquerade Ball, who won last year's G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) after finishing runner-up to Croix Du Nord in the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), is likely now to be rerouted to the G1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin on April 5. A trip to Hong Kong is under consideration for five-year-old Jantar Mantar, who holds an entry for the G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin, Hong Kong on April 26.

TDN's Bill Finley yesterday spoke to a number of American connections with runners planned to travel to Dubai, with most adopting a wait-and-see approach.

Trainer Jose D'Angelo, who has Bentornato (Valiant Minister) entered for the GI Dubai Golden Shaheen, said, “We are still planning to go. Everything is set up to go. We have talked to the people in Dubai there and they say that everything is good to go. 

“Of course, I am worried about it. This is not normal. We see from here on television everything that is going on. But, hopefully, in two weeks the situation will be better.”

Racing in Qatar has been postponed this week but, at the time of writing, the Dubai Racing Club was still planning to stage its meeting on Friday, while the Bahrain Turf Club's two-day King's Cup meeting is still intended to go ahead on Thursday and Friday.

 

 

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