United Color gets crucial reprieve

Dubai: With the tight scheduling of UAE race meetings not in his favour, veteran handler Dhruba Selvaratnam has been compelled to alter plans for his would-be star United Color.

Originally an intended runner in the Group 3 Mahab Al Shimaal, a prep for the $2million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) on Dubai World Cup night, the ex-Italian horse will instead sidestep the star-studded Super Saturday card this weekend and head straight to the big sprint on March 30.

Most trainers regard Super Saturday as an essential step in the journey towards the $27million Meydan extravaganza, albeit the American raiders who are more familiarised with completing their preparation at home before shipping to Dubai in time for race day.

Selvaratnam admitted that the initial notion was to give United Color, a hugely impressive winner at Meydan on Thursday, a run on Super Saturday, but has since decided against it.

“It wouldn’t be the correct decision to run him in the Mahab Al Shimaal, given the fact that he just ran last Thursday,” said Selvaratnam. “The better option is to put him away for now and hopefully come back in three weeks time for the Dubai Golden Shaheen.”

Selvaratnam revealed that United Color, a horse he purchased in Italy for Major General Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Chief of Dubai Police and Public Security, through a private agreement, would continue to do all his major training at Jebel Ali Stables.

“We don’t need to do too much with him, we’ll keep it simple,” he said. “We’ll take him to Meydan for a canter just 10 days before the big race, but he’ll do all his fast work here at Jebel Ali.

“I don’t plan to change his routine, when you try to do something different it invariably goes wrong. We’ll stick to the basis and just keep him ticking. He’s not a difficult horse to train.”

Selvaratnam rates United Color alongside Ramp And Rave, one of three horses that he prepared to win the Dubai Golden Shaheen. The Jebel Ali stalwart won the sprint in 1999 following previous triumphs by Mudallel (1998) and Satank (1993).

“We probably know a little more about just how good he is after Saturday’s Mahab Al Shimaal, which looks a high-quality race,” he said. “Krypton Factor is a very good sprinter and I was very impressed with Godolphin’s Mental, who won the Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) last month.”

Selvaratnam also revealed the judgement behind United Color’s purchase in Italy last August.

“He struck me as a well balanced horse — he looked pretty strong both front and back and had broad shoulders on him. I only buy horses on conformation and he ticked all the right boxes,” he said.

“Now we will have to wait and see just how good he is on the big stage, but you’ve got to be in the race to win it. So we’ll wait.”