Chromies, we have been waiting for this! This Saturday we are hoping to seek our redemption when California Chrome goes after the Dubai World Cup (DWC) once again. Chrome took a nice long break after he participated in the DWC on 3/28/15. He lost to Prince Bishop that day. Losing is not something Chrome is accustomed to. His cup runneth over with success. He is a true champ. When he was healed and rested he came back on 1/9/16 to win the Santa Anita San Pasqual Stakes in California, USA and then he won the Trans Gulf Electromechanical Trophy race at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, UAE on 2/25/16. Chrome is ready!
I wrote about the history of the DWC and California Chrome when I did my story about his last race in Dubai here: Chrome Shall Transcend. A brief recap suggests Chrome is set to fill the horseshoes of many great horses that have come before him. The DWC began in 1996 and was won by Cigar that year. It is the “richest day of racing” with a purse of $30 million dollars for nine Group 1 and 2 races at Meydan. $10 million of that is for just the DWC itself. The DWC, sponsored by Emirates Airline, is about 10 furlongs (2,000 meters or about 1 and 1/4 miles) on the dirt. The contenders are world wide Thoroughbreds aged 4 or older if from the Northern Hemisphere or 3 years and up from the Southern Hemisphere. The U.S. leads in previous winners with 9 U.S. owned champions. UAE, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Great Britain also have entries this year. 12 horses will compete represented by California Chrome, Frosted, Hoppertunity, Keen Ice and Mshawish from the United States. The DWC falls on the last Saturday of March annually and this year it will be on 3/26/16 at 1 P.M. EST.
Here is the competition by post-position – name – country where bred – owner and jockey:
- Keen Ice – USA – Dale Romans – Ryan Moore
- Mshawish – USA – Todd Pletcher – Frankie Dettori
- Gun Pit – AUS – Casper Frownes – Joao Moreira
- Mubtaahij – IRE – Mike de Kock – Christophe Soumillion
- Special Fighter – IRE – Musabah Al Muhairi – Fernando Jara
- Candy Boy – USA – Doug Watson – Pat Dobbs
- Vadamos – IRE – Andre Fabre – Vincent Cheminaud
- Hokko Tarumae – JPN – Katsuichi Nishiura – Hideaki Miyuki
- Frosted – USA – Kiaran McLaughlin – William Buick
- Hoppertunity – USA – Bob Baffert – Flavian Prat
- California Chrome – USA – Art Sherman – Victor Espinoza
- Teletext – USA – Sami Al Harabi – Silvestre De Sousa
I wish all 12 contenders the best of luck but personally I will be pulling for California Chrome to win! In addition to the 5 horses in the DWC there will be 6 more U.S. horses participating at Meydan the same day. If you are rooting for team USA then look out for a total of 11 U.S. Thoroughbreds this Saturday including by name and race: Lady Shipman (Al Quoz Sprint) , Marking (Godolphin Mile), Flamboyant (Dubai Turf), Frank Conversion (UAE Derby), Confrontation and X Y Jet (both in the Dubai Golden Shaheen). Go Chrome, go USA!
Keep following, commenting, liking, tweeting and sharing and I will have another story next week. Thank you for all of the support!
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