The international forefront for the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic for the Dubai World Cup night on 31st March
The Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic is a major feature event of the Dubai World Cup night, and will be held on 31st March at the Meydan. It is flooded with local entries owing to the home country advantage, but also has a considerable
amount of competition flying down for contesting the race that would add extra appeal to the profiles of the horses.
For the five-year-old St Nicholas Abbey, the Group 1 Dubai Sheema would be the seasonal debut after having won thrice from the seven starts that he made through 2011. He won the Group 3 Boodles Diamond Ormonde Stakes on 6th May,
2011 at Chester, in a field of five.
He then won the Group 1 Investec Coronation Cup on 3rd June, 2011 at Epsom against four others where he was sent as the evening’s favourite. He won both the races with Ryan Moore onboard, and then was placed third in his next
two starts.
His last race and victory for the 2011 season, was in the Grade 1 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup on 5th November, 2011 at Churchill Downs. He has already won in America and Great Britain, and now is attempting to extend his
winning streak to UAE.
From the stables of A P O’Brien, Treasure Beach and Await The Dawn will also contest for the title, with Treasure Beach having won two Grade 1’s and a Grade 3 out of the seven starts made during 2011, while Await The Dawn notched a Grade 2 and a Grade
3 under his belt out of the four races that he participated in the previous season.
France has entered five nominations for the race while there are eighteen American trainers, who want their horses to run in the race, fourteen are from the Great Britain and eleven Japanese horses are the prospects for the race as well.
Encircling fourteen countries, and two hundred and fifty-four nominations from therein would need to be filtered for the final lineup that will eventually race the Classic for being presented with the honour of either winning it or being placed.
Last year the race was won by Mahmood Al Zarooni, and the trends for the Sheema Classic do depict the same trainer, jockey and owner winning a second time however, it is quite early to judge much.
Tags: