Dubai: Trainer Aidan O’Brien, who last year put an end to the UAE’s Derby domination by Saeed Bin Surour (seven wins) and Mike de Kock (five wins), is joined by Richard Hannon in what is a truly classy 2013 line-up for the Group 2 contest on the all-weather on Saturday night.
O’Brien, whose Daddy Long Legs won last year, saddles Lines Of Battle and along with Hannon’s Law Enforcement, the duo bid to stop Bin Surour, de Kock and Mahmoud Al Zarouni who are all double-handed in this $2 million (Dh7.34 million) race.
The UAE Derby assumes greater significance this year as it has been included as part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series and quite a few runners here will be looking to muster crucial points that will help earn them a ticket to Kentucky.
Law Enforcement has won four of his five starts to date - the last being the Grand Criterium (Group 1) at San Siro, Italy, over 1,600 metres in October.
Hannon struck a confident note after the Lawman son’s workout: “He seems to love this Tapeta surface, which is a big plus, and he also has a great draw, so we are getting quite excited about his chance on Saturday.
“Sure, it is easy to pick holes in the form of his Group 1 win in Italy last season, but I have had a good look at the opposition we will face and it does not exactly have me running scared,” Hannon said throwing down the gauntlet.
Bin Surour’s Secret Number is unbeaten in two starts while his second runner Shuruq is 2-2-1 in five career starts! Al Zarouni’s Now Spun has won two of his three starts while Snowboarder, whom he saddles for Dubai Crown Prince Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - has never been out of the money with a 3-3-2 record in eight starts.
Silvestre De Sousa, who rides Secret Number, said he had a tough time leaving out Shuruq. “Secret Number has done nothing wrong - winning two out of two. But I may have picked the wrong one because the filly [Shuruq] is nice as well. It was difficult to pick between the two.”
After his seventh place finish from stall 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November, this will be Lines Of Battle’s second big assignment abroad. Winning his only start on synthetic at the Irish track Dundalk, Lines Of Battle under Ryan Moore will be looking to emulate Daddy Long Legs’ Derby win here last year.
The Doug O’Neill-trained He’s Had Enough and the Paddy Gallagher-trained Dice Flavour are two American raiders who have impressed since being shipped here and along with David Marnane’s Ellevel and Japanese representative Keiai Leone, give this race an international look. De Kock’s Emotif and Zahee will have to improve on their current form to challenge the favourites which in this race look to be Secret Number and Law Enforcement and Shuruq.
GN Selections
1. Secret Number
2. Law Enforcement
3. Shuruq
