Dubai World Cup day races - Team Japan leaves Dubai empty-handed

The Japanese contingency on Dubai World Cup day came up short for the second straight year. Hopefully a change of scenery-to the new, state-of-the-art Meydan City next year-will make a difference in 2010.

Japan was represented by three horses on Saturday evening, March 28, at the last Dubai World Cup day to be held at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, but left the world's richest meet without a single win as Bamboo Ere came in fourth in the Dubai Golden Shaheen; Vodka seventh in the Dubai Duty Free; and Casino Drive eighth in the flagship race, the Dubai World Cup.

Bamboo Ere

Although the results for Japan were as dreary as the weather, Bamboo Ere managed to ease the pain somewhat by taking fourth in the Dubai Golden Shaheen-the highest finish ever in the 1,200-meter race by a Japanese horse.

Broad Appeal and Meiner Select had owned the previous record with a fifth-place performance in the 2002 and 2004 versions of the $2 million race.

Jockey Yutaka Take, who was aboard Meiner Select five years ago, positioned the 6-year-old Bamboo Ere mid-pack after an even start from gate No. 11 in the 12-horse field.

The Akio Adachi-trained son of Afleet, nevertheless, lost steam with 400 meters to go, falling out of contention. But Bamboo Ere, in his first trip abroad, went down swinging, fighting off Force Freeze and Black Seventeen to secure a finish on the board, which was topped by America once again, this year by Big City Man.

"He didn't embarrass himself at all," Take said, ahead of the Dubai Duty Free in which he rode Vodka. "He got off to a solid start, and his positioning was good. He made the effort to pick it up on the straight, passed the ones who gave up. I think it says a lot about the condition he's in.

"He showed a great performance, even in this category, which has proved hard to be even placed for the Japanese runners in the past years."

Said Adachi: "He did himself proud. He came in fourth to finish the highest of all time in this race for a Japanese horse. He was very calm from the paddock, and I think that was the key. I left the race completely up to the jockey, and he did well to get the horse to a fast start. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure about his condition when we first arrived in Dubai, but it turned OK in the end. Hopefully, this will be the start of something for me, and I hope I can develop another horse good enough to be invited back."

Vodka

Vodka's second shot at the Dubai Duty Free title ended in another disappointment, even though her trainer and jockey both had said the Japan Racing Association's reigning horse of the year was in the best form of her career. Vodka was fourth in the race in 2008, and having prepped for the Dubai Duty Free this year with the Jebel Hatta (she was fifth), much was expected of her on Saturday.

The 5-year-old superstar, who drew the third barrier from inside, got a good jump out of her stall, and was the only horse among 16 daring enough to chase U.S. entry Gladiatorus, who would go on to comfortably win the 1,777-meter contest by more than three lengths.

Coming off the final turn, Vodka looked as if she had second place sewn up, but with 100 meters remaining, the Katsuhiko Sumii-trained mare clearly ran out of gas, Take jerking the reins with all his might to keep her in the top half of the finish.

"The riding was perfect, and the trip went just as we had imagined," Sumii said. "But watching her come off the track, I think she gave it everything she had. She left everything out there. This has made me rethink how I train horses from now on."

"She got off to a superb start, and I took the position I did because I wanted to see how the other horses would come out," said Take, who rode Vodka in the race last year and won the Dubai Duty Free with Admire Moon in 2007. "She went at a pace she liked during the trip, and she felt very good going into the straight. But I don't know what happened from that point on. She can definitely compete at the world lever, so we hope to be back."

Expectations for Casino Drive in the 2,000-meter Dubai World Cup were just as high as they were for Vodka, but the 4-year-old simply picked the wrong fight against Well Armed, who broke Cigar's record in the 1996 inaugural race to win by a shocking 14 lengths.

Casino Drive

Casino Drive struggled to keep up with the pace set by Well Armed as the Kazuo Fujisawa-trained horse fought jockey Katsumi Ando early in the trip. Ando tried to settle his mount by tucking him inside along the railing, but when Well Armed turned it up again rounding the final bend, Casino Drive simply could not stay; he crossed the finish line a whopping 27 lengths behind the winner.

"The start was good but he lost his cool and the jockey tried to settle him on the inside," Fujisawa said after the race. "But he hasn't raced much in a crowd. He looked like he calmed down, but I think it was a tough race for him. He didn't run his best race, and that's too bad. It's time for a break now."

"He jumped very well from the gate," Ando said. "He didn't like the kick back, but when I put him on the rail he settled and tripped well. He didn't answer me at all turning for home."

Well Armed made a mockery of the competition in what was Casino Drive's third overseas challenge. He dominated the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park in his first trip abroad last spring before finishing a humbling last in the Breeders' Cup Classic in the fall.

* Please visit the following websites for more information.
Dubai Racing Club website: http://www.dubairacingclub.com/
Emirates Racing Authority website: http://www.emiratesracing.com/