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Angus McNae - Friday 12th April 2013
Speed Figures from Dubai World Cup
After much deliberation and thought the speed figures from Dubai World Cup night read as follows:
Soft Falling Rain 105
A brutal trip for this classy colt under Paul Hanagan. The pace was too quick and those that got a good trip on the inside paid the price for going off too fast allowing the winner to power home down the outside. He has plenty of speed and the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot is a possibility.
Cavalryman 103
This was not the stamina test that a race of this quality over two miles demands. They crawled through tepid early fractions and this allowed the horse with most speed to prevail. Cavalryman rolled back the years here and whether he can transfer his form to Europe is doubtful.
Lines Of Battle 94
This race looked to be run at an even tempo but as ever the clock tells us the truth and that is that the gallop early on was modest. This partly explains why the prominently ridden Lines of battle won. He was also superbly handled by Ryan Moore who sat still three furlongs out when the pace quickened, allowing his colt to come home evenly and overhaul those who got a rush of blood too soon in the home straight. The Kentucky Derby may be next, but that will be a whole different ball game.
Shea Shea 117
This horse is world class and won under a very confident Soumillon ride. The second best figure on the night which is easy to explain courtesy of a strong gallop and this horses high cruising speed.
Reynaldothewizard 112
A move up horse from the Carnival who ran a figure similar to the two he produced in the Carnival. In other words he did not need to improve to win thanks to the below par efforts of Mental, Trinniberg and others. He is living proof of the talents of trainer Satish Seemar, but will be vulnerable in top class sprints around the world. His win may have had something to do with the fact that the Tapeta was riding slower than has been the norm.
Sajjhaa 114
A tough filly who completed a hat-trick here after winning the Balanchine and the Cape Verdi. She did not look straightforward in terms of attitude for the first of those wins, but she seems to have matured into the job with racing. This may have been her perfect moment, only time will tell.
This horse has been consistently underrated by students of the collateral form book, but time analysts have always known what he has been capable of and yet again he has fired a big number. A hat- trick of Coronation wins at Epsom is his for the taking.
A blockbuster figure from a world class colt. This is the best performance in a World Cup since the event was moved from the dirt of Nad Al Sheba. He is an unusual beast in that he can win grade one races on Turf, dirt and synthetics, such versatility is rarely seen. It will be a privilege to see him at Royal Ascot.
I am sure you will agree that there were some interesting performances at what was a high class meeting. Some believe that the event is losing its lustre. World Cup night proved that such talk is nonsense and I for one hope that it continues to go from strength to strength.
Have a good weekend folks.
