It would be tough to improve on Charlie Appleby’s performance on “Fashion Friday”, the final January meeting of the Dubai Carnival, but the Godolphin trainer looks poised to at least keep the string going in the Feb. 2 meeting with a powerful team for the featured Dubai Millennium Stakes (G3T).
Appleby will give a leg up to William Buick on New London , whose resume includes a victory in the 2022 Gordon Stakes (G3) at Goodwood and a second in that year’s St Leger Stakes (G1) at Doncaster, and to Mickael Barzalona, who will pilot Warren Point , whose 2023 campaign included stops in Qatar, Bahrain and New York.
“We are hoping that dropping back to a mile and a quarter is going to suit New London,” said Appleby, who swept the four turf races Jan. 26. “This race has always been the plan for him and, if you take the best of his 3-year-old form, he looks a serious contender.”
The opposition includes Trevaunance , a 5-year-old mare trained by Jessica Harrington, who makes her first Dubai start. The daughter of Muhaarar was last seen finishing second in the Preis von Europa (G1) at Cologne in Germany Sept. 24.
The Dubai Millennium could be considered an audition for either the Dubai Turf (G1T) at 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) or the Dubai Sheema Classic at 2,410 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) on World Cup Night, March 30. Realistically, it would require an impressive performance to make that jump successfully.
While the Dubai Millennium is the only pattern race on the program, the other heats are not without interest.
The listed Dubai Sprint, at 1,200 meters (about sxi furlongs) on the turf, has a field of 14, including Mischief Magic , another Appleby-trained Godolphin charge who won the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) and exits a fourth in the local Ertijaal Dubai Dash.
“Mischief Magic came out of the Ertijaal Dubai Dash well, and coming back to six furlongs should play to his strengths,” Appleby said. “I feel he should be a big player.”
The second race on the program finds 3-year-olds going 1,900 meters (about 1 3/16 miles) on the Meydan Racecourse dirt. The contenders include Tapit’staleofverve, a first-timer homebred for Canadian owner Charles Fipke, who is always keen for a challenge. Trainer Doug Watson hinted at big hopes for the Tapit colt.
“Tapit’staleofverve trains like a really nice horse,” Watson said. “We were stuck there for a while as he had a big growth spurt and so we’re having to run in this 1,900-meter race. It’s a trip he should stay but it’s a pretty big ask for the first start of his life.
“I’d love to run at a mile, but that’s the next week, and then it’s only two weeks back to the Al Bastakiya. It’s a call that we had to make, and I think he’s up to it. He’s a big, strong-looking colt.”
The Feb. 23 Al Bastakiya is the local UAE Derby (G2) prep.
