Drafted In For Dubai’s Big Night

[Wandering Eyes]

The superb carnival for Misty Hollow Farm’s Drafted (Field Commission) continued in fine style on Super Saturday when the Doug Watson-trained 5-year-old capitalised on a blistering early pace in the G3 Mahaab Al Shimaal to swoop late down the outside and win by a neck.

The grey gelding found himself tight for space after breaking from a wide draw and settled in midfield as Lavaspin (Hard Spun) set a ferocious gallop and was tracked by the Swedish challenger I Kirk (Swe) (Eishin Dunkirk) and Steve Asmussen’s raider Swirzerland (Speightstown). Turning in, the leaders folded as the chasing pack made headway, with Nine Below Zero (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) taking up the running just over two furlongs from home but ultimately having to give best as Drafted cruised wide under Pat Dobbs to gain his third win at Meydan this winter. In a tightly bunched finish, the Fawzi Nass-trained Nine Below Zero held on for second with David Marnane’s Tato Key (Arg) (Key Deputy) running home well for third.

Watson will now take aim at the G1 Golden Shaheen on World Cup night after Drafted secured his second consecutive Group 3 win in just over a month. He said, “He was a model of consistency last year and this time around we’ve stuck to the six-furlong programme. He’s a closing sprinter. He might just get seven [furlongs] but it didn’t work out for him when we tried him over a mile on this day last year.”

The trainer continued, “I was a bit worried turning in as he didn’t switch to his right lead right away but once he did he took off. He’s just a horse who gets into gear late. This year the dirt track is a bit fairer for horses coming off the pace. He’s been very consistent and all he needs to do is to run that kind of race [in the Golden Shaheen] and he’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Watson’s stable jockey Pat Dobbs added, “He is starting to get clever and is getting better. He idled his way home the last part, saving a little bit, but he’ll need that. He’s a different horse this year physically.”

Pedigree notes
Bred by John Foster, Barbara Hooker and the Field Commission Partnership from the unraced mare Keep The Profit (Darn That Alarm), Drafted’s winning half-siblings include the four-time scorer Swampy (Future Lover). Passed in as a yearling at OBS for $19,000, he was bought by trainer Eoin Harty at the OBS breeze-up the following March for $35,000 and raced initially for Godolphin in America and at Royal Ascot. His subsequent purchase by Brian Gleeson for a little over $10,000 as a 3-year-old at the Godolphin horses-in-training sale in Dubai was inspired. Drafted has thrived in the care of Watson, winning twice last year and only being beaten once in his four starts of this campaign when second to Raven’s Corner (Ire) (Raven’s Pass) on Jan. 3.

 

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