Dubai — Like his name suggests, Godolphin’s Talismanic can be a harbinger of good luck and grant his trainer, French icon Andre Fabre, a maiden Dubai World Cup (Group 1) trophy on March 31.
One of the most successful trainers in the world, the 24-time French champion is attempting an audacious assault on the $10 million contest with a horse that has never raced on a dirt surface in 18 outings.
However, Fabre is confident that the five-year-old son of high-class Kentucky stallion Medaglia d’Oro has the qualities, and running style, to handle the tricky Meydan surface.
The Dubai World Cup plan was hatched soon after Talisman won the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Del Mar last November. Fabre told the Godolphin website that he had; detected certain qualities in the colt that suggested it was worth trying him on dirt.’
He said Talismanic had displayed “a very easy action in regular training on the dirt track at Del Mar, albeit in steady work” and that his style of racing meant he was “easy to place in his races and can lie up with the pace.”
More recently, Talisman justified Fabre’s faith in him when he sailed through the 1,900m Listed Prix Darshaan over the all-weather track at Chantilly, his final prep, that was intended to bring him spot on for Dubai.
The closest Fabre has come to winning the Dubai World Cup was in 1998 when Loup Sauvage chased home Silver Charm and Swain, finishing just 2½ lengths short.
Mickael Barzalona, Godolphin’s retained rider who has ridden Talismanic in all but two of his 18 career starts is confident that the horse will have no problem dealing with the Meydan dirt, something which was in evidence during his morning work all through the week.
“He won a very strong Breeders’ Cup Turf,” Barzalona, 26, said. “We gave him a very easy season because we didn’t find that many races to suit him. His objective was the Breeders’ Cup from very early in the year and Andre Fabre brought him there at 200 per cent.
“He’s very easy to ride and always tries his best,” added the French rider who has sampled success in some of the biggest races in the world, including the Dubai World Cup in 2012 with Monteross, the Epsom Derby with Pour Moi in 2011 and the English St. Leger with Encke in 2012.
Should Barzalona win Saturday’s big race it will bring up his 13th Group 1 victory since his debut in 2011.
Talismanic is likely to face 10 rivals including West Coast, the American three-year-old champion of 2017 and four-time Group 1 winner, Forever Unbridled, America’s reigning champion dirt mare.
Both the American superstars have arrived in Dubai and are impressing form-watchers at the Meydan gallops.
The field also boasts names like Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 winner, North America, and Godolphin’s Thunder Snow, who took the second round.
