LONDON: While a lot of the attention is understandably on Thunder Snow as he tries to become the first horse to win back-to-back Dubai World Cups, Dallas Stewart is backing his star, Seeking the Soul, to upset the local favorite.
The six-year-old’s trainer was speaking having seen him arrive at Meydan and undergo his first run out on the course where the $12 million race will take place on Saturday. Stewart was very pleased with what he saw — Seeking the Soul galloped strongly under regular exercise rider Pedro Velez.
“He looks great,” the trainer said.
“He shipped in well. He looks like a prize fighter.”
The six-year-old comes into the famous race on the back of some impressive results. He came second in the Pegasus World Cup in January and has finished in the top three in all his races, bar one — an uncharacteristic 13th in the Woodward Stakes Group 1 at Saratoga — in the past year.
Since January Stewart has talked Seeking the Soul up as a possible Dubai World Cup winner and that has not changed.
“I just can’t figure out what happened in the Woodward,” Stewart said. “I thought about it and I thought about it. But, he bounced out of it well. He was second in the Breeders’ Cup and second in the Pegasus, so he has the credentials to be here. I think he has a heck of a shot.
“As long as he’s doing well, he has a big chance in Dubai.
“He’s a really tough horse who enjoys his job. He seems to be at his peak right now and has improved with age.”
The fact that no horse has ever successfully defended the Dubai World Cup tells you all you need to know about how tough the race is. There have been plenty of great winners — Dubai Millennium and Arrogate to name only two — who have just the one victory to their name, and going back-to-back will be no mean feat for Thunder Snow.
But that has not stopped Godolphin from talking up their star five-year-old.
He has been reported to be in great health ahead of his attempt to defend his crown. Victorious in the 2017 UAE Derby (G2), he made history when becoming the first winner of that Dubai World Cup card highlight to follow up in the big race itself.
“We could not be happier with him,” Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. “Everything has gone to plan and he worked very well on Saturday. He had a very busy 2018, so the idea was always to wait for Super Saturday and we knew he would need that run. He did, but has improved a lot since. We are really looking forward to Saturday.”
As well as Seeking the Soul, Yoshida is another horse who is highly fancied to play the role of party pooper for Godolphin and Thunder Snow. Already a Grade 1 winner on both dirt and turf, the Japanese star first showed his potential on dirt — the surface for Saturday’s race — last summer at Saratoga. In that run he beat Seeking the Soul and another rival on Saturday, Gunnevera.
That has his trainer Bill Mott
excited about what he can do in three days’ time.
“When he won the Grade 1 on the dirt at Saratoga, he showed a tremendous turn-of-foot in the last (400m),” Mott said. “He’s a big, hearty horse who gets over the dirt very well.
“We’re just trying to keep him happy until race day. Most of the serious breezing has been done. When you travel this far, it’s important to keep the horse happy. We’re really pleased with how the horse is doing right now.”
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via Latest News of Dubai
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