United Color, Reynaldothewizard meet again in Dubawi Stakes
January 14, 2015United Color and Reynaldothewizard, third and fourth in the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint last March, meet for the first time since that race in Thursday’s $150,000 Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
The Dubawi Stakes is the top race on a seven-race program at Meydan that includes two $75,000 races over seven furlongs on the main track that serve as trials for the United Arab Emirates 1000 and 2000 Guineas in coming weeks.
The Dubawi Stakes could lead to a return appearance in the Golden Shaheen on March 28 for United Color and Reynaldothewizard. They are part of a field of nine that includes Russian Soul, who was stakes placed in Ireland last October; Touch Gold, who won three consecutive races in Dubai last February and March; and Conveyance, who set the pace and faded to finish 15th in the 2010 Kentucky Derby when trained by Bob Baffert.
Conveyance, now trained by Satish Seemar in Dubai, is winless in four starts since being sent to the Middle East. United Color, 6, was fifth of seven in a conditions race over six furlongs at Jebel Ali Racecourse in Dubai on Dec. 26. Reynaldothewizard, 9, won the 2013 Golden Shaheen, but was winless in three starts in 2014. He has not raced since March.
In the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial, Local Time, winner of the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket, England, on Oct. 4, is the leading contender against eight rival 3-year-old fillies. One of three runners in the field owned by the Maktoum family’s Godolphin Racing, Local Time must beat Godophin’s Good Place, who was last of seven in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in October, and Runner Runner, who was second in a seven-furlong stakes at Hanover, Germany last October.
There are 13 runners in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial, a group led by Maftool, who won the Group 3 Tattersall Stakes at Newmarket in September, but was fifth in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes there in October. The Swedish-bred Volatile, third in the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket in October, will have his Dubai debut in the 2000 Guineas Trial.