Grudge race for TM Fred Texas, Grilla at Delaware
America's top purebred Arabians square off in Group 2 competition
Delaware: TM Fred Texas and Grilla, the two greys clash once again and round three is the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Group 2) at the Delaware racecourse today which sees America's top purebred Arabians in contention.
Grilla got the better of TM Fred Texas in the Shaikh Zayed Cup (Group 3) to start the year in style as the Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival made its Texas debut. But in last month's UAE President's Cup Grade 1 encounter at Churchill Downs, TM Fred Texas proved doubters of his staying ability wrong as he unleashed a brilliant pace under Santos Chaves to win as Grilla, the favourite, finished a poor fourth. One-all and the two meet again today. While Chavez is back for owner Sam Vasquez and trainer Ron Martino on TM Fred Texas, Grilla will see Ricardo Chiappe with trainer Bill Waldron separating his horse from jockey William Hollick who was in the saddle in the Kentucky showdown.
Improvement
TM Fred Texas, the four-year-old son of Burning Sand, has shown a lot of improvement, but Grilla, which was bumped at the start and did not relish the sodden and heavy track at Kentucky, will look to come back strongly in today's 1,700 metre Group 2 battle.
The race itself, from four runners and a Group 3 event last year has been elevated to Group 3 status this year and apart from Fred and Grilla, four other Group 1 runners add quality to the 9-horse field.
Dixies Valentine ran a brave second to Fred Texas and trainer Tracy Nunley will be hoping her horse will spoil the party of Texas and Grilla while big-race trainer Lyn Ashby send in her lightly-raced but undefeated A Ladys Man to take on the biggies.
Hollick, unseated from Grilla, will be looking to prove a point on the Nunley-trained Rich Frynchman, the son of superstar and Arabian Triple Crown winner TH Richie. "We have the best of the best at Delaware, and it will be an interesting and competitive weekend," said Nunley, one of the star trainers who took part in last month's World Arabian Racing Conference highlighting the plight of Arabian racing.
The Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach).
