MG1SW Benbatl Makes His Dirt Bow at Meydan

[Wandering Eyes]

Godolphin’s Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a Group 1 winner on grass in Australia, Germany and Dubai, makes his dirt bow in Thursday’s $450,000 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R2 over 1900 metres. An easy-as-he-pleased winner of the local G2 Singspiel S. for trainer Saeed bin Suroor on Jan. 9, the 6-year-old’s main competition is Phoenix Thoroughbred III and Khalid Bin Mishref’s 2018 GI Belmont S. runner-up Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}). The latter was third last out in the Listed Entisar going 2000 metres locally on Dec. 5.

“He’s in good form and worked really well last Thursday,” Bin Suroor said. “This is a test for him to see if he can handle the dirt and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed made the decision to run him and see if he’s going to like the dirt. He works very well on the all-weather Tapeta at Al Quoz [training centre], but that is

Tapeta. On Thursday, it’ll be his first time on dirt, so we will see.

“He needed the (Singspiel) and has improved from the race. That race was just to get him fit and he is ready to try the dirt. There’s no excuse now that he’s had a run and is fit. He’s an easy horse to train; a proper horse who has won in England, Germany, Australia and Dubai. Just a class horse.”

Narrow G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 victor Kimbear (Temple City) returns after his Jan. 9 victory for Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi and trainer Doug Watson.

“He came out of his run in great shape and when I look back on his run [in the 1800m GI] Santa Anita Derby [in 2017], he didn’t run a bad race,” Watson said. “He’s matured and the nice thing about him you can ride him however you want. He takes kickback and he’s just in really good form right now. We’re hopeful he’ll stay the trip, but there are a few others in the race feeling it out, as well, including Benbatl, who is trying dirt for the first time and possibly Gronkowski, who may be using it as a prep for Saudi. His coat looks great, he’s working extremely well and you can’t say those things very often about every horse going into a big race like this. We’re just really pleased.”

Earlier on the card is the oversubscribed G3 UAE 2000 Guineas, also on the main track. Bin Suroor saddles the pair of Laser Show (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and Colour Image (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in the 1600-metre pointer for the upcoming G2 UAE Derby at the end of March. Lightly raced, Laser Show won going away by 4 1/2 lengths with the addition of blinkers in the 1900m Al Bastakiya Trial on Jan. 23.

“He is a good horse, but he needs a farther trip,” Bin Suroor explained. “He needs at least nine furlongs and this time we’ll run him the shorter mile trip and give him a chance now that he has the visor. The visor really helped him and I know he can run farther in the [Al Bastakiya Trial and UAE Derby].”

The top-rated horse in the Guineas hails from the States, as Reddam Racing’s Fore Left (Twirling Candy) makes his Meydan debut for trainer Doug O’Neill, who has a dedicated string in the desert for the first time. The speedy bay won twice at stakes level as a juvenile, and was also third in the GIII Best Pal S. He’s been off since a 10th-place finish in the grassy GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. at Del Mar on Dec. 1 and leaves from gate 14 in the 16-horse field.

“He has a lot of confidence right now,” reported Leandro Mora, assistant trainer. “I think a lot of that is due to the track and how he adjusted really well to it. The distance of a mile here is tricky, but I think, with it being around one turn, horses like

him think it’s a six or six and a half-furlong race and because of that I like his chances a lot.

“Early on, we thought he was a legit [Kentucky] Derby horse, but that faded a little bit and we tried to change his style and that didn’t help; even tried him on turf as an experiment. We tried to rate him a little bit and I don’t think he likes that style. He wants to be forward in first or second and then go for home. Even if he’s not in front, as long as he’s up there, he has a big chance. As far as the post, I like to be outside, but being inside doesn’t matter too much, because he usually breaks really well.”

Nasir Askar’s Commanding (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) is aiming for his third consecutive victory. Runner-up over 1400 metres here when unveiled in November, he utilised frontrunning tactics to take the Dec. 5 Jebel Ali Port locally over this trip, and got the job done once again in similar conditions over Al Modayar (Competitive Edge) in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial on Jan. 9.

Ekhtiyaar (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) must shoulder 132 pounds, anywhere from three to 16 pounds more than his rivals, in the Listed Dubai Sprint Trophy in between the pair of group races on Thursday. A colourbearer for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Doug Watson trainee won a track and trip conditions contest under this impost last out on Jan. 9.

“It was the next logical spot and I love the 28 days between races, which also gives us another 28 days to Super Saturday,” Watson said. “He’s doing great and I love the way he ran last time. If he can jump like that every time, that would be good. We had to run him on the dirt to get a race into him and give him a try on it. My only thought was that I hope it didn’t mess him up, which it didn’t, so hopefully he can keep his good form going.”

G2 Al Fahidi Fort fourth and GSW Blitzekrieg (War Front), Jan. 16 course-and-distance victor Roulston Scar (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) for Simon Crisford and G3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise Angel Alexander (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) also hold their ground in the 1200-metre straight-course turf sprint.

 

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