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From the DRC...

Great Hunter seeks redemption in Dubai World Cup


For some American-based horses, there is nothing like good old fashioned dirt.

Owner J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill are hoping that Great Hunter is one of those horses and that he will redeem himself on the sand track at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse after his last four unplaced performances on Santa Anita Park’s synthetic surface.

That’s why they’re sending Great Hunter, a Grade 1 winner at two but luckless recently, from California to the US$6 million Dubai World Cup (Gr.1), sponsored by Emirates Airline.

“He’s run his best races on dirt,” said Dennis O’Neill, the trainer’s brother who works with the stable. “We’re hoping the synthetic tracks just aren’t his cup of tea and that he’ll do better with a return to dirt. He’s training great and he’s sound and he looks fantastic. So, if you’re going to run back on the dirt, why not do it for $6 million?”

Doug O’Neill indicated before Great Hunter’s most recent start in the Santa Anita Handicap (Gr.1) on March 1 that he was hoping for a big performance. But the four-year-old son of Juddmonte Farms’ stallion Aptitude, who competed in the 2001 Dubai World Cup, finished eighth in the Big ’Cap behind winner Heatseeker.

Yet none of Great Hunter’s connections are ready to give up on the dark bay colt, who was unplaced in the Kentucky Derby (Gr.1) last year and then missed the Belmont Stakes (Gr.1) when diagnosed with a bone chip in his right front ankle. He was sidelined for about six months after that injury.

“Even though he has been disappointing recently, I know the horse has got a ton of ability,” said Dennis O’ Neill, who scouted the colt before Reddam purchased him privately following a maiden race victory as a two-year-old at Lone Star Park in Texas.

Great Hunter will be the fourth American-based horse in the Dubai World Cup, following reigning Horse of the Year Curlin and Grade 2 winners Well Armed and A. P. Arrow.

O’Neill and Reddam won their first Dubai World Cup program race last year when Spring At Last was victorious in the Godolphin Mile (Gr.2). After the son of Silver Deputy captured the Donn Handicap (Gr.1) last month, it appeared he would represent the stable in the Dubai World Cup.

However, Doug O’Neill said he preferred for the five-year-old horse, who is co-owned by WinStar Farm, to have a little more time between his races.

Assistant trainer Leandro Mora is set to travel with Great Hunter to Dubai, as he has with the previous stable runners that have competed on the Dubai World Cup program. Dennis O’Neill said Great Hunter ships well and is “a low key and classy horse,” thus one that should take the trip in stride.

From 14 career starts, Great Hunter has won three races and placed five times while earning $790,500. One of America’s top juveniles of 2006, he won the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (Gr.1) over eventual Grade 1 winner Circular Quay and champion and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense before finishing third behind Street Sense and Circular Quay, respectively, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Gr.1).

As a three-year-old, Great Hunter won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (Gr.2).




Wygods will cheer for Idiot Proof, Jalil in Dubai


Owners Martin and Pam Wygod plan to travel to the United Arab Emirates to cheer on their homebred Grade 1 winner Idiot Proof in the US$2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1), sponsored by Gulf News, on March 29.

But while the four-year-old son of their stallion Benchmark is the only runner on the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) program that will carry their silks, the Wygods might be cheering just as strongly for Godolphin’s Jalil in the main event of the evening.

“They might be more excited about that horse than about my horse,” said a chuckling Clifford Sise Jr., who trains Idiot Proof for the couple, pointing out that the Wygods bred Jalil and sold him as a yearling to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s bloodstock adviser John Ferguson for $9.7 million.

“They’re very excited about Jalil,” he continued. “They still own the dam (Grade 1 winner Tranquility Lake) and they raced his brother, After Market,” a multiple Grade 1 winner who is standing his first season at stud at Lane’s End near Versailles, Kentucky, for an advertised fee of $30,000.

Idiot Proof is also a horse who can generate excitement. Named after a phrase Martin Wygod frequently uses when trying to arrange efficient business deals, Idiot Proof is a “really sweet little horse,” Sise said with affection, noting that the quiet colt trains consistently well and thus lives up to his name.

Although Sise has never been to Dubai before, he said he believes the mild desert air of the spring will be good for Idiot Proof.

“I think he’s going to get over there and have a ball,” he added.

Sise plans to dispatch Idiot Proof for a workout this weekend and then give him another timed exercise about five days before the Dubai Golden Shaheen, sending him down the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse stretch to prepare for the 1,200-meter straightaway dash.

Idiot Proof has been a very reliable racehorse, winning five of 11 career starts and placing five additional times while earning $863,204.

A winner of his first start at two, Idiot Proof graduated immediately to stakes company, and his wins include the six-furlong (about 1,200 meter) Ancient Title Stakes (Gr.1) last year in 1:07.57, a Santa Anita Park track record, after the Jersey Shore Breeders’ Cup Stakes (Gr.3) in a Monmouth Park track record of 1:07.47. Idiot Proof finished second to eventual American champion sprinter Midnight Lute in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr.1).

This year, Idiot Proof has raced twice, finishing third in the El Conejo Handicap (Gr.3) at Santa Anita and second in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap at Turf Paradise.

“It’s always disappointing when you lose,” Sise said of the Phoenix effort, yet he pointed out that the bright side of the race for Idiot Proof is that the timing of the February 16 event should be ideal in terms of setting the colt up for his best effort in the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

Regular rider David Flores will be back on Idiot Proof in Dubai.