Dubai: Highly-regarded trainer S. Padmanabhan is hoping that India’s wonder-filly In The Spotlight can justify the special treatment that will be conferred on her in Dubai by giving a good account of herself when she competes in the 2013 Dubai World Cup Carnival.
Due to the strict quarantine procedures that will be in place during the January 10 to March 30 event at Meydan, In The Spotlight is expected to have an entire barn to herself at the Quarantine Centre in Nad Al Sheba, as quarantine regulations forbid horses from different racing jurisdictions to be housed together.
It is from this imperial residence that Padmanabhan will prepare his star to compete for some of the richest purses on offer at the $37.36 million (Dh137.26 million) extravaganza, with her principal target being the $1 million Dubai Gold Cup (G1) on Dubai World Cup night.
“The unfortunate part of it is India is not producing many horses of her calibre and so Dubai will have to block a whole barn for one horse,” Padmanabhan told Gulf News from his residence in Bengaluru. “But I hope she will perform well and justify the special treatment she is being given.
“I have no doubt about her ability to perform on the big stage. She is not only a star of Indian racing she is probably the best horse I have ever trained, and I have trained close to 150 Grade or Group winners. She is very special, she’s better than the horses I’ve brought to Dubai before, she’s way ahead of them.”
However Padmanabhan, who is acknowledged as one of the best trainers on the Indian racing circuit, was a trifle concerned about how In The Spotlight would adapt to racing left-handed at Meydan.
“I don’t have any concerns about the track as she has won Group 1 races at every racecourse in India, from Bengaluru to Bombay to Hyderabad, Calcutta and Pune, she won on tracks which are completely different,” he said bullishly.
“But having said that, we don’t really know how she will handle the left-handed track in Dubai.
“She’s been trained for three years to go right-handed and now we are setting a different course for her. That was one of our main concerns because it’s not always easy to re-train a horse to use he left lead instead of her right lead.
“She has been working left-handed in isolation in Bombay and she seems to be enjoying it, so the early signs are promising.”
In The Spotlight will also be travelling by air for first time in her career when she boards an Emirates cargo flight at Bombay headed for Dubai International Airport, where she will touch down on December 21.
“I’m not too concerned about this being her first flight,” added Padmanabhan.
“She normally travels in a horse box from one racecourse to another in India and travels well. She did 8,000 miles [12,800 km] in six months this year, so you can call her a pretty experienced traveller,”
After completing the routine quarantine procedures, In The Spotlight will commence training for her Dubai debut which is scheduled for a handicap event on January 17.
In The Spotlight is the daughter of former Craven and Dante Stakes winner Alnasr Alwasheek, who was bought out of Dubai to stand at the Poonawalla Stud Farm in Pune, India. She made history when she became the first Indian racehorse to cross Rs50,000,000 (Dh3.3million) in earnings when triumphant in the Indian St Leger, the final Indian Classic of the 2011-12 racing season.
Not too many Indian horses have competed at the Dubai Carnival in the past with Mystical being the first Indian-trained winner at the event. Oasis Star had finished a close second while Classical Act was a notable third.
