2011 Dubai World Cup

[2spiritfulkids]

None of these horses are as good as Secretarit!!!!

[audimilla]

Seems like the jockey purposely made a jump on this race... Hmm I smell a rat... ;)

[goldman8073]

Dont know why this is showing 1 1/4 mile when this is a 2000 metre race.

[CharlesOlney23]

no wonder the best horses never enter this.

[SCOTTinHd1]

Why does Godolphin never put decent horses in that race !!!!

[GBeret83]

Call this food for thought? So You Think didn't accelerate on dirt as well as he does on turf. But he was by no means disgraced in the BC Classic, either. Good turf horses have had a lot of success on synthetic surfaces. I wonder if O'Brien might send SYT to Meydan for a crack at this year's Dubai World Cup on tapeta? They did send Cape Blanco last season, and I think the race and surface would both suite SYT down to the ground. I think he'd fare just as well as Cape Blanco did last season. TJMO

[taykyl001]

@GBeret83 Well it look likes you may get yr wish. SYT has been entered for this race.

[GBeret83]

For the first 2 Carnivals that have been run at the new Meydan facility, few horses have run as well on the tapeta surface as Mendip has. Once the Godolphin people figure out that Mendip would've been better served racing 10f on tapeta in the DWC than he was racing 9f on turf in the Duty Free, they might win the DWC again. Can't find fault with Monterosso's effort in the race. But I know Mendip would've been a better entry than Poet's Voice or Prince Bishop was for this Dubai World Cup. TJMO.

[Tuckyrich]

ออกสตาร์ทที่สุดท้ายเลย แต่เข้าที่ 1 สุดยอดจริงๆ

[1723SAMUEL]

@ SCOTTINHD ITS ALL ABOUT BUSINESS

MONEY MAKES MONEY

HERE TOO IN NORTH AMERICA WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM

RESPECT!! FROM MISSISSAUGA CANADA

[SCOTTinHd1]

@1723SAMUEL Its Crap isnt it !!!

[SCOTTinHd1]

What i hate is that the UK has brilliant horses like Frankel or So you think but don't test them by entering them in this race

[round999444]

Did it ride well?

[GBeret83]

Always felt like Cape Blanco was the one Ballydoyle got wrong. Never got the impression they rated him as highly as they should have. He never fully got the kind of credit he deserved for a great Dante Stakes win over Workforce. Or for pummeling Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over in the manner he did in the Irish Champion Stakes in 2010. Hopefully, he'll win the Eclipse Award as 2011 Turf HOY. To recognize his incredible run of 3 straight G1 win's in the US. Shipping over from Ireland each time. TJMO

[IRSstables]

@GBeret83 i've always been a fan of Cape Blanco, and I completely agree! Twice Over and 'Winkle always got some kind of major credit, even when they were destroyed by that magnificent horse. It sucks, that Cape Blanco never gets the respect he deserves. ):

[3dog9ty]

Interesting race. I don't recall ever seeing one like it. So much money yet no pace. It was run more like a turf race for $20,000 with six of the field merely setting their horse up for bigger money. Strange indeed.

[GBeret83]

26 and change for the opening quarter-mile. 53 and change for the first half-mile. They really were going a snails pace in this race. I certainly give Victoire Pisa's jockey credit for realizing early on that this race was going to be won by one of the front runners, and for injecting Victoire Pisa into the race at the front. Late closing horses coming from well off of the pace never stood a chance in this race at the fraction's the race was run at, IMO.

[GBeret83]

This really was the worst Dubai World Cup that I can remember at least for the last 10 to 12 years. It's not that it was lacking in talent? There were several outstanding legitimate G1 horses in the field. Just the manner and lack of any kind of pace at all that it was run at was really depressing to watch. If he hadn't got hurt in Rd. 2 of the Al Maktoum Challenge? I believe Bold Silvano would've dominated this race. I also think Mendip could've run bigger in the DWC than the Duty Free, also!!

[terrorizerr1]

that race looks funny to me. look like some jockeys were pulling horses to let japan win!

[smegmatrap]

@terrorizerr1 i agree. did look funny at the end.

[terrorizerr1]

@smegmatrap kinda not doing the best effort down the stretch! im not taking credit from those jockeys but you have to see some jockeys in my country..........they want to rip the neck out of the horses coming to the finish line!

[NarutoRocks2011]

@terrorizerr1 haha admit guys you loose take it

[terrorizerr1]

@NarutoRocks2011 loosing is not a problem for me, but loosing in a funny way is never acceptable.

[TicinoParadise]

26 & change opening 1/4.....What a joke, and smart move from the Jockey.

[debbider]

Worst World Cup ever

[Ntra209]

This race was better 3 years ago . . 

[711ATOM]

Part 2 - Mirco Demuro was either the only jockey to recognize what was happening, or the only one willing to try to do something about it. The saying "pace makes the race" is a cliche, but it is one which contains truth. Golden Sword is the track record holder and he came undone in this race; Twice Over won the third leg of the Maktoum Challenge on March 3rd on the same track, what was his excuse? The result is what it is; the race determined by which horse finishes first, not by a clock.

[711ATOM]

Part 1 - I can see some whining about this race. The problem, if any, was not with the surface (which I am not of fan of) but the jockeys. The pace was what it was because Shinji Fujita on Transcend was the only one willing to run to the lead. With nobody else willing to go with him, Mr. Fujita did the smart thing and put on the brake. Look at the splits - 400m/26.77_ 800m/26.41_1200m/24.60_1600m/2­4.33_2000m/23.32. It was like an extreme version of a European race.

[depeche79]

Grande Mirco e grande Giappone !!!!

[kikiiimarieexx]

dead heat, was hoping for a performance like when Well Armed won it in 2009

[kirikou441]

really very disappointed with this race in Dubai, see horses of this quality race in 2 minutes 5 seconds over 2000m is too bad!

[PhippsStable]

@kirikou441 I agree, terrible race.This turf synthetic crap is terrible, and the last two years of the world cup have been on this turf synthetic. The horse who won was defeated a total of 16 lengths in two starts in France last fall, and the ridiculous fractions of 26.7 and 53. This race isn't even the shadow of itself with its' rich history of Cigar,Dubai Millenium,Singspiel,Curlin,Sil­ver Charm,Pleasantly Perfect,Invasor

[kirikou441]

@PhippsStable damage to the American horses, you will not win the Dubai World Cup win in years to come! your horses are very strong physically and need to run fast to win.

[711ATOM]

Part 2 - Both Victoire Pisa and especially Transcend have dramatically improved over the last year, and both are known for being very strong. If they keep using this surface at Meydan you will have to take that into account in the future. Great win for trainer Katsuhiko Sumii, he's become on of the best - his filly Cesario took the American Oaks in a stakes record, Delta Blues and Pop Rock quinellaed the Melbourne Cup, Vodka was 2 time Horse of the Year, and now VP in the Dubai World Cup.

[711ATOM]

@GBeret83 I don't know if you seen this, but on DubaiRaceNIght's channel there is an interview with Michael Dickinson, the inventor of Tapeta (search for "How Tapeta plays for the 2011 Dubai World Cup"). He claims that Tapeta is "a very compliant, obedient surface, and we can make it as firm or as deep as we want". In the interview it sounds like Mr. Dickinson wants to prove Tapeta is safe and fair, so perhaps there is room for adjustment in the future.

[711ATOM]

Part 1 - Well run, with special credit to Shinji Fujita on Transcend and Mirco Demuro on Victoire Pisa for making the race. This field was very deep and it turned into a tactical race; Fujita and Demuro (just like he did in the Arima Kinen) recognized this and ran to the top. Looking at the times from this year and last, and seeing what happened to Twice Over, Meydan is a deep heavy track (trainer Bob Baffert described it as "gooey").

[jmart680]

Just think of all the money put into a race like this and I'm not talking purse. I live in the U.S.A. so I'm paying attention to the GI here.From the looks of it every one of these jockeys where holding back. U know all it takes is a bribe. And I'm sure a Prince could have easliy bought all the jockeys. But that's just my opinion.

[GBeret83]

This Dubai World Cup just serves to remind me once again how much I truly miss the race being run on the conventional dirt at Nad Al Sheba.

[PhippsStable]

@GBeret83 This race was won by a horse who was defeated by 8 lengths in both his starts on grass in France last year. Please bring back real dirt I agree. By the way, gotta give props to Transcend(a dirt horse)who finished second, he very well may have won this race if on dirt, although many top American horses would have run, and probably beat him and all of them.

[kelletman]

I was of the opinion BV was the best horse in the race, but she had it all to do giving VP a start from the wide draw on her form with VP in Japan, so I went with VP and had a EW bet on Transcend at 40/1 as he had won 2 G1 races on the bounce and was coming into the race on the top of his game, both VP & T tuck the race by the scruff of the neck when others did not so deserved the win. Japan needs a bit of luck now so I am happy that the first 2 were Japanese horses.

[SvendBosanvovski]

The Merdan track surface is Tapeta Thermo Track, manufactured in the US and the UK. According to the manufaturer, It is effective down to -17c. The organisers of the World Cup needed a synthetic surcae that could handle the extreme temperature range from cold nights to over 40 celsius in the day. Subsequent to my last posting, I have discovered that the Al Quoz, won by JJ The Jet Plane, was run on turf. Not sure if it had Tapeta under thye turf layer.

[SvendBosanvovski]

Great result for Japan. They produce middle distance throughbreds of outstanding class year in and year out, the best in recent years being Deep Impact. The dawdling pace gave the closers little chance of success, with the final time of 2m 5.94 slower than a maiden handicap at Birdsville. The synthetic track with a sand cover doesn't seem conducive to producing fast times, judging from the performances of JJ The Jet Plane & Rocket Man in the two sprints.

[GBeret83]

This race was run at a pathetic doddle, and looked more like roller derby than a horse race the way horses were running all over each other. When Victoire Pisa has to come 5 or 6 wide to go to the front just to inject some pace into the race? Something's seriously wrong in Dubai. The strong closers like Golden Sword and Buena Vista never had a chance in this race with no pace whatsoever.

[queenluciaa]

@GBeret83

Gio Ponti shouldn't have run either, they said he was experiencing the same as Kinsale King but was not scratched for some reason.

[Funny1991]

@queenluciaa Kinsale King had a allergic reaction to something and had his legs swollen and had hives