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Dubai World Cup Day - Wonder Dean tops UAE Derby, with Pyromancer in third
Wonder Dean
Forever Young, Lugal land seconds in Meydan action
Amid the uncertainties in the Mideast and biblical rains that flooded much of Dubai leading up to raceday, Japan’s team of six rose bravely to the challenge in overseas competition on Saturday, March 28. In a show of determination, strength and class now known worldwide as the trademark of Japanese horses and horsemen, the six took on five of the eight races open to Thoroughbreds on the that day at Meydan Racecourse. For the second time, Forever Young contested the day’s headliner, the 30th running of the Grade 1 Dubai World Cup, carrying a first prize of nearly $7 million (approx. 1 billion yen). The Japanese team went home with a face-saving score of one win, two seconds and a third from five events. That tally included a second-place finish (worth about 380 million yen) in the main event by Forever Young, who only 6 weeks prior scored back-to-back wins of the Group 1 Saudi Cup. First out for Japan was Wonder Dean in the fourth race of the day on a card of nine. The colt, under Cristian Demuro, landed the Group 2 UAE Derby, a 1,900-meter test on dirt for 3-year-olds. Fourth-place finisher in the Group 2 Saudi Derby in Riyadh in February, Wonder Dean claimed Japan’s incredible fifth straight win in the UAE Derby. A son of 2016 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) champ Dee Majesty, Wonder Dean managed to overtake the front-running Six Speed midstretch and hand Japan its only win of the day. Though Wonder Dean had only won one race before Dubai, the colt had proven consistent, never finishing off the board in his previous five starts. “I was confident in him,” said trainer Daisuke Takayanagi. “The distance suited him better than the mile in the Saudi Derby and I knew he would run well. I did think the frontrunner might run out of steam. But, until this one got to the front, my heart was in my mouth.” The win gave Wonder Dean 100 points on the European/Middle East Road to the Kentucky Derby and the 49-year-old Ritto-based Takayanagi says his sights are set on the iconic American classic, scheduled for May 2. Also making the money in third (under James Doyle) was Pyromancer, a Godolphin-owned, Keiji Yoshimura-trained colt by Pyro. Pyromancer had rolled into Dubai on a three-way winning streak from his debut culminating in a win of the NAR’s top 2-year-old event, the Zen Nihon Nisai Yushun. The UAE Derby was his longest test yet by 100 meters. Next up was the Al Quoz Sprint, a Group 1 over 1,200 meters of turf. Japan’s Lugal finished third under Katsuma Sameshima. Local runner Native Approach held off a late threat from Lugal and prevailed by a neck. Lugal, who won the title of Best Sprinter in 2024, finished a length ahead of France’s star sprinter Lazzat, the race favorite. In the Group 1 Golden Shaheen, a sprint over dirt, Japan’s American Stage(fourth in last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint) settled in a forward position but failed to hold his ground and eventually slipped back to finish last in the field of 12. The race was won for the second year in a row by local runner Dark Saffron, a 4-year-old gelding.
The 7-year-old Gaia Force took on the 1,800-meter Group 1 Dubai Turf, won by Japan’s Soul Rush last year. The Kitasan Black-sired Gaia Force, racing for the first time since his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Mile Championship in late November, broke smartly under Ryusei Sakai, took the lead and held his ground well until halfway down the stretch, but was no match for the turn of foot of winner Ombudsman. Gaia Force finished in sixth place amid the field of 11.
In the day’s main event, the Dubai World Cup, Forever Young was, once again, unable to make the line in first, but he did improve on last year’s third to finish second a length behind 4-year-old Magnitude, who went wire to wire under Jose Ortiz. The top was fiercely challenged by Forever Young, with regular partner Ryusei Sakai in the saddle. But, with 100 meters to go it was clear the Japanese superstar was not going to be able to reel in the Steve Asmussen-trained colt. Magnitude covered the 2,000 meters over dirt in a time of 2 minutes 4.38 seconds. “There are no excuses. Ryusei gave him a perfect ride,” Yahagi said. He then, however, did go on to suggest that “it might be the track.” “The sand is slightly different from that in the United States and Saudi Arabia,” the 65-year-old Yahagi noted. “At the crucial point in the race, the horse just didn’t seem to have what he usually has. It felt like watching the old Forever Young. “I very, very much wanted him to win this race, especially amid the current situation, but I want to praise the horse and my staff for their effort. I am so very proud of them.” Yahagi also congratulated Daisuke Takayanagi for his win with Wonder Dean. “We helped each other with things like saddle placement,” Yahagi said. “And on raceday everyone worked hard as Team Japan. There was only win, but I am very, very happy to have that win.”
With his second-place earnings in this year’s Dubai World Cup, Forever Young has now moved a hair away from becoming Japan’s first racehorse to accumulate 5 billion yen in earnings, a number that puts him within reach of the world’s current leader, Hong Kong’s megastar Romantic Warrior. Comments: Sports Hochi, Sports Nippon DUBAI WORLD CUP (G1, 2,000m Dirt) DUBAI TURF (G1, 1,800m Turf) DUBAI GOLDEN SHAHEEN (G1, 1,200m Dirt) AL QUOZ SPRINT (G1, 1,200m Turf) UAE DERBY (G2, 1,900m Dirt) Please visit the following websites for more information.
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