Quote:
7th (12:39) Dubai Duty Free (G1)
About 1 1/8 Miles (Turf) | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $5,000,000
1 1 Mshawish Dettori L Delzangles Mikel 126 10-1
2 2 Just a Way (JPN) Fukunaga Y Sugai Naosuke 126 9-2
3 3 Anaerobio (ARG) Marcus A de Kock Michael F 126 50-1
4 4 The Fugue (GB) Buick W T Gosden John H M 121 3-1
5 5 Educate (GB) Guyon M H Mohammed Ismail 126 50-1
6 6 Tokei Halo (JPN) Take Y Shimizu Hidekatsu 126 30-1
7 7 Trade Storm (GB) Spencer J Simcock David 126 15-1
8 8 Tasaday De Sousa S A bin Suroor Saeed 121 15-1
9 9 Blazing Speed (GB) Moreira J Cruz A S 126 30-1
10 10 Dank (GB) Moore R Stoute Sir Michael 121 7-2
11 11 Vercingetorix (SAF) Soumillon C de Kock Michael F 126 5-1
12 12 Logotype (JPN) Demuro C Tanaka Tsuyoshi 126 30-1
13 13 Hunter's Light (IRE) Fallon K bin Suroor Saeed 126 30-1
Win / Place / Exacta / Trifecta (.50 MIN) / Superfecta (.10 MIN) Pick 3 (Races 7-8-9) / Daily Double
|
Even with all the big names in the field, I think this race has the potential to come in with some big prices.
Dank is in good form, but has only raced against the girls and is coming off a layoff.
We all know the Fugue is a monster, but I think this distance is a little shorter than she wants to go, and I'm kinda confused why she wasn't entered either in the Sheema Classic at 1 1/2 miles on turf (her ideal distance) or in the World Cup...
Vercingetorix is undefeated, but has he gone against the best?
Overall this is a very classy, salty bunch and there are a lot of ways you can go.
I'm picking a longshot to win it- #9 Blazing Speed. Sticking with the Hong Kong theme, he's been going against the best. He's been competitive against Akeed Mofeed, Cirrus de Aigles, and Military Attack. But I think this distance suits him well, and he'll be flying late. So he's my pick at hopefully 20-1 or better.
#11 Vercingetorix is undefeated and in his last 2 starts has won over the Meydan turf. This is by far the classiest bunch he's faced, but until he loses, tough to pick against him.
#10 Dank is in such good form, I think she could hold her own with anyone. We'll see if taking on the boys off a layoff is too much to overcome, but she's done very little wrong lately.
#7 Trade Storm is a steady knocker over this Meydan turf course. He has a habit of starting sluggishly and flying late. I'm not sure his best can beat these, but I think he can hit the board.
As I said, I don't like the Fugue, because she should be going longer. Since she'll most likely be the favorite here, I looked for more value elsewhere. She truly is a monster if she beats this group.
One other side note- I can't get over how Godolphin entered #13 Hunter's Light here instead of in the World Cup. He's a steady turf horse, but he's inferior to these and I think they may be just using him as a rabbit. He has proven Meydan synthetic form, and ran a solid 4th on Super Saturday off a long layoff in preparation for a World Cup run. His racing lines are very similar to 2012 winner Monterosso. Godolphin had multiple entrants in each race, so they're probably trying to find the best way to shuffle the deck. But as wide-open as the World Cup appears to be on paper, HE HAS A LEGIT SHOT OF WINNING THE WORLD CUP. IMO, he has very little chance to win this race. I think he's as good as the other 3 Godlophin entrants in the race, and probably better than Vancouverite. Vancouverite should be in this race, the Duty Free, and Hunter's Light should be in the World Cup.