We're going to Dubai!

[NoChanceToDance]

VP is going to Dubai?!?!?!?!?!?

Wish i could go.

[my miss storm cat]

Ramonti of course, Doctor Dino, possibly Good Ba Ba.....

[my miss storm cat]

Scratch Ba Ba boy...

Strike the Deal.....

[NoChanceToDance]

Eagle Mountain to be trained for the Duty Free or the Sheema Classic

[NoChanceToDance]

News of the well-travelled Doctor Dino

From RP.

Sheema Classic likely target for globetrotting Doctor Dino



by Nicholas Godfrey
.

DOCTOR DINO, who topped a lucrative international campaign with victory in the Hong Kong Vase, is set to be aimed at the Dubai Sheema Classic on World Cup night ahead of another globetrotting season.

Although he had never won above Group 3 level before 2007, this year the five-year-old has never been out of the first three in six Group 1s on three separate continents.

As well as winning in Hong Kong, Doctor Dino captured the Man o'War Stakes at Belmont Park in September, and also finished third in the Prix Ganay, Champion Stakes, Singapore International Airlines Cup and Arlington Million, despite meeting ground softer than ideal in each of them.

His trainer, the Chantilly-based Englishman Richard Gibson, is now considering targets for 2008, starting with Dubai.

“We said straight away that there were no fixed plans but he will stay in training and, as he loves fast ground, we'll be looking very closely at Dubai,” he said.

“As long as he's in good nick, the Sheema Classic is the race to go for - it's a $3m pot for the winner, so it's a likely option, but he certainly won't have a prep.” After Dubai, Doctor Dino is unlikely to be seen for a few months before another autumn campaign geared towards the top international races.

“I should think he'll have a long break after Dubai,” said Gibson. “We won't see him again until the summer, and we'd hope to have him 100 per cent again for the autumn - that's where the big pots are. But I would be surprised if he has more than six starts.”

Doctor Dino is currently “on holiday” back home at Chantilly. “He is just jogging, getting some r'n'r,” said his trainer.

“It's minus six in Chantilly - I feel sorry for him being there - but even so, he's still full of beans.

“He is so consistent, and so receptive to training,” he added. “We knew on the better ground in Hong Kong that it would take a very good horse to beat him. He is obviously the best I have trained.”

[NoChanceToDance]

From RP....

Coeur De Lionne targets Dubai Carnival


by David Milnes

ED DUNLOP is planning to campaign his new recruit Coeur De Lionne at next month's Dubai carnival.

The three-year old joined the Newmarket trainer after being purchased by Stephen Lamprell for 350,000gns at the Tattersalls Horses-in-Training sale in November.

A three-time winner for Roger Charlton in the summer, Coeur De Lionne has not been out since beating Pivotal Answer by a short head in a handicap at Kempton in September.

His new owner, who is Dubai-based, was in the news recently when selling his Prix de l'Opera winner Satwa Queen to Sheikh Mohammed for 3.4 million gns at the December Sales .

Dunlop said: "Both Coeur De Lionne and King Charles are set to run at the carnival in Dubai next month. Coeur De Lionne looks a fun horse to have around, and we are planning to start him off in a handicap at Nad Al Sheba on January 24.

"Hopefully, he will then have a couple more starts out there over ten or 12 furlongs, and then return here to be prepared for Royal Ascot."


>>Royal Oath, emphatic winner of the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in June, has had his proposed US career put on hold to head a select team from the John Gosden stable at next month's International Racing Carnival in Dubai.

The four-year old, who trounced Flipando in winning the Royal meeting, had been set for a switch to California in the autumn to take advantage of better prize money opportunities.

Connections are likely to find similiar pickings at the eleven week Carnival which starts on January 17 and culminates in the 13th running of the $6M Dubai World Cup on March 29th.

Royal Oath,who will be accompanied by stablemates Escape Route and Racer Forever in Dubai,has won on both grass and the all-weather and was last sighted when finishing fourth to Echo of Light in the Group 3 Strensall Stakes at York in September.

[my miss storm cat]

Racing Post.....


Lang Field bids to book Dubai trip

by Graham Green

LANG FIELD, winner of the Grade 1 Citation Handicap last time out for British owner Nigel Shields, could earn himself a trip to Dubai with another bold showing on Sunday in California.

Claimed for $30,000 at Churchill Downs in 2006, the four-year-old geld is now trained by Art Sherman, who saddles him in a strong renewal of the $150,000 San Gabriel .

“He is older and starting to relax,” said Sherman. “Before, he wanted to stampede to the lead.”

Rivals include fellow Grade 1 scorer Daytona – the Hollywood Derby winner formerly trained in Britain by Mark Johnston – plus Del Mar Derby winner Medici Code and Storm Military, who could be the best of them all. The mount of Garrett Gomez, he won two Group 1 races in Argentina before joining Bobby Frankel and has already finished in front of Lang Field elsewhere.

[my miss storm cat]

ERA...

Grade 1 winner Johnny Eves may be Dubai bound

Johnny Eves, a Grade 1 winner who has strung three impressive efforts together in his most recent starts, has been named a candidate for the US$2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1) or the $1 million Godolphin Mile (Gr.2).

Trainer Jay Robbins said he would like to take the four-year-old gelded son of Skimming to Dubai in search of victory in one of the rich races. First, however, he has penciled in the $150,000 San Carlos Stakes (Gr.2) over seven furlongs at Santa Anita Park on February 16.

Johnny Eves scored the biggest win of his career in his very first start in graded company, taking the Malibu Stakes (Gr.1) over a strong field of 13 rivals, including previously unbeaten Divine Park, on December 26 at Santa Anita. His time for the seven furlongs was 1:21.08.

Less than three weeks later, Johnny Eves ran a determined race to finish second by a nose to Air Commander in the 1 1/16-mile San Fernando Stakes (Gr.2) after fighting back from the rail when passed in the stretch.

In November, Johnny Eves set a Hollywood Park track record when he won a 6 ½-furlong allowance in 1:14.03 for owner and breeder Mooncoin LLC. Overall, the gelding has won five of 11 starts, placed three times and earned $364,720.

In other American racing news, probable Horse of the Year Curlin worked on Friday for the third time following his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr.1), breezing five furlongs in an easy 1:04 at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Although legal issues surrounding the minority owners of the four-year-old son of Smart Strike have not been resolved and whether he will race in 2008 is still not clear, Asmussen has said the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) is the logical target for Curlin.