Six Speed, racing for the first time for new American owners, raised hopes for a return home on the first Saturday in May with an impressive, and a bit surprising, victory in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) on Fashion Friday Jan. 23 at Meydan Racecourse.
The race earned the Not This Time colt 20 points on Churchill Downs' Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby. More importantly, it provided a guaranteed spot in the UAE Derby (G2) on Dubai World Cup (G1) night March 28, a race that, with 100 qualifying points to the winner, effectively guarantees a starting spot in the Run for the Roses.
Six Speed came into the Guineas off a victory in the Jan. 2 UAE Two Thousand Guineas Trial. In that 1,400-meter (about 7-furlong) tilt, he benefited from an inside draw and a weight break from the runner-up. There were questions whether he could duplicate the effort adding another 200 meters to the ask.
Both jockey Mickael Barzalona and trainer Bhupat Seemar confessed to being surprised when Six Speed not only answered the question but won by 5 lengths, unchallenged by any of 15 rivals.
"He jumped from the gate very fast, and he traveled strongly all the way around," Barzalona said. "He actually surprised me a little bit when I asked him to pick it up in the straight."
"The good horses, they've got speed and then they get more stamina," Seemar added, optimistically. "So I guess he's probably one of them. We thought he probably won't get the distance, and he's just proved us wrong and he's a properly nice horse."
Six Speed, bred in Kentucky by KatieRich Farms, is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Browse, a stakes-placed Phipps Stable homebred winner. Seemar purchased him for the original ownership group from the 2025 Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale for the equivalent of $304,680.
He finished third in his debut in November at Meydan, then won impressively in his second start a month later but still was a moderate longshot in the international wagering on the Guineas Trial. He was a generous price again in the Guineas behind favorite Devon Island, a Godolphin colt by Practical Joke who chugged home second.
Six Speed was sold privately before the Guineas to a syndicate headed by Brunetti Dugan Stables and the Jake Ballis-owned Black Type Thoroughbreds. Other partners include Steve Adkisson and Swinbank Stable.
"The ownership that owned him before, they're friends of mine from college," Seemar said. "They've had two horses with me and they've both won good races. They sold him and now I'm glad that the new owners, you know, they're from the U.S. and they probably bought him with an eye to the Kentucky Derby. So, it's great when someone has that much faith."
Ballis and partners kept the colt with Seemar for the Dubai series but he said they might reconsider if Six Speed makes it to Louisville, Ky.
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