Kentucky-Bred Flameaway Colt Sparkles in Dubai

Veteran campaigners overcame adversity to win the feature races on the Jan. 5 Dubai World Cup Carnival program at Meydan Racecourse but it was a Kentucky-bred 3-year-old Flameaway colt who put the exclamation point on the evening. The 3-year-old, Ma Yetal, convincingly won the UAE Two Thousand Guineas Trial. The impressive victory in the potential first step toward the UAE Derby (G2) stole the thunder of the evening's feature race winners San Donato (IRE) and Tuz, winners of the Zabeel Mile (G2) and Dubawi Stakes (G3), respectively. Ma Yetal was making his second start, following an explosive 13 3/4-length victory Dec. 16 at Jebel Ali, earning a lofty 103 rating. But his return wasn't quite so easy. Boxed in tightly just behind the leader at the top of the stretch, jockey Ben Coen had to help Ma Yetal find running room. Only after easing outside his rival, Rasas, did he take over and draw clear. Through the final furlong, Quartier (URU) was gaining and finished second, three-quarters of a length in arrears. It was another 3 1/4 lengths to Military Artistin third. Coen said he was never concerned by the traffic. "I knew I had the horse underneath me. I just had to get him a bit of room," Coen said. "When you give him a kick, he finds a couple of gears." Asked how good Ma Yetal is, Coen took a few beats to reply, "We'll see." Trainer Michael Costa said the colt, bred by John Oxley out of the Tapit mare Delightful Melody, is a "cool dude... He's a horse beyond his years. That's a huge advantage." The UAE Derby on World Cup night affords the winner 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. San Donato, Tuz Star The earlier races were tactical exhibitions by jockeys Pat Dobbs and Tadhg O'Shea. San Donato, overcoming a well-accustomed outside post position, shot through a gap between rivals in deep stretch and ran on to land the Zabeel Mile on the Meydan turf. Among the vanquished was Godolphin's accomplished Real World (IRE), who won this race in 2022 but whose impressive group-race exploits from that season and 2021 are beginning to fade from memory. San Donato, an 8-year-old Lope de Vega (IRE) gelding, drew the No. 13 gate, setting the task for Dobbs. He trailed most of the field into the stretch before moving up along the rail. Real World struggled to the lead some 200 meters out but Dobbs found a seam inside him and between horses, ran through and went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Marbaan (GB) was second with El Patriota (URU) third. Real World faded to finish sixth. "I was following a horse I didn't want to follow," Dobbs said, "but it opened up just lovely. We've never had a good draw as long as we've had him." Trainer Doug Watson, in fact, noted, "His last five draws have been 13, 14, 15, 13, and 13. Sooner or later, we'll get lucky and he might race a bit closer." Watson said he will consult with owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum before charting a course forward for San Donato, adding he "might get farther" than the mile under better circumstances. The evening's secondary feature also saw an outside horse prevail. Tuz, a 7-year-old Oxbow gelding, blew away 11 rivals in the Dubawi Stakes at six furlongs on the dirt. Breaking from the outside stall, O'Shea got Tuz right out front, switched over to the inside rail and was never challenged. He finished 8 1/2 lengths in front of the runner-up, Leading Spirit (IRE), clocked in 1:10.42, bettering a second-place finish in his seasonal debut Nov. 26 at Sharjah. "You can only do that on good horses," O'Shea said of the early blast of speed and persistence in the final furlongs. "You can't do it on ordinary horses." Both O'Shea and trainer Bhupat Seemar said the key to Tuz is changing leads in the straight. "It's only the second time he's changed leads in the stretch in a race," Seemar said. "When he does that, he wins by a mile." Looking forward to the big sprints through the remainder of the Carnival, Seemar acknowledged his yard is well stocked with speedy types and added, "You never know until the World Cup. Hopefully, we can keep them all healthy and happy."