Pedigree Spotlight Mubtaahij’S International Intrigue by Frank Mitchell
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SPECIAL April 28, 2015 www.PaulickReport.com This Year’s Race Conjures Shadows Of 1948 By Bud Lamoreaux It doesn’t happen often and it may be a bit of a stretch, die Arcaro asked Jones. Arcaro apparently wasn’t sure if but a pair of Thoroughbreds trained by the same connec- Coaltown didn’t stand a better chance of taking the roses. tions, who appear to be a near lock in this year’s Kentucky “Just don’t get in a speed duel with my other horse,” Jones Derby, bring back memories of 1948 when Citation beat replied. Coaltown was in front by six lengths after a half Calumet stablemate Coaltown on his way to a signature mile. Citation won by 3 1/2. Triple Crown. Coaltown was no slouch. He won Horse of the Year honors from Turf & Sport Digest in 1949. It’s usually not a ticklish situation when a trainer has more than one Derby entry, but in the case of near co-favorites History tells us that this year’s story is not yet as interest- it has to make it a little bit dicey. Bob Baffert is a wonder- ing, unless, of course, American Pharoah or Dortmund win fully entertaining guy, and I’d like to be a fly on his shoulder the elusive Triple Crown for trainer Bob Baffert, breaking a when he gives his jockeys their final instructions on the first 37-year drought that goes back to Affirmed in 1978 when Saturday in May. Triple Crowns appeared to be a dime a dozen. Baffert has come as close as any trainer, finishing second Racing certainly has more intrigue and, imagined or not, with Silver Charm in New York in 1997, then losing the Continued on Page 7 Belmont by a nose the following year with Real Quiet. He won the first two legs of the Triple Crown again in 2002 with War Emblem. But in 1948, trainers Ben Jones and his son Jimmy Jones were having a not so “real quiet” battle of their own. They both eventually made the Hall of Fame, but back then Ben was trying to become the second trainer to win four Der- bies and Calumet was odds-on to win it either with Coal- town or Citation. Jimmy had been campaigning Citation anywhere he could find a race for him and was listed as the “trainer.” But when it came time for the Derby, Jimmy’s name came down and up went ole Ben’s, though Jimmy did get to sad- dle the winner. “Sonofagun,” said Jimmy to Heywood Hale Broun when they were both still hale and hearty, “he just stole him from me.” I was standing next to the cameraman as the CBS News producer of their interview and Jimmy appeared to be getting hot under the collar over something that had happened 50 years before. It was almost as if he was let- ting out the hurt he had felt for all those years. Citation had 45 career starts, finishing out of the money only once, and Jimmy was there for every one of them. He really loved Citation like no other campaigner he had ever trained and he kept trumpeting that brilliance until the day he died. According to an obituary in the Los Angeles Times when Jimmy Jones died in 2001, this conversation took place in the saddling area of Churchill Downs just before the 1948 Derby. “Are you sure I’m on the right horse,” jockey Ed- www.PaulickReport.com Page 2 Pedigree Spotlight Mubtaahij’s International Intrigue By Frank Mitchell Flying the flag of international competition as a prospect National Stakes at the Curragh as a juvenile, then the Irish for this year’s Kentucky Derby, Mubtaahij won three of his 2,000 Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois at 3. Dubawi four starts in 2015, including the UAE Derby in impressive was also third in the Derby. style. Racing for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa of Dubai, Mubtaahij is the son and grandson of important racehors- All said, however, what has made Dubawi such an impor- es bred by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the tant sire? Because he is, without much doubt, the most ruler of Dubai, and raced by Godolphin, Sheikh Moham- important stallion in Europe not from the Northern Dancer med’s international racing operation. line. Perhaps the extra touch of precocity to win a G1 at 2? Or the extra touch of class to land third in the Derby when Most importantly, Mubtaahij is a it wasn’t really his distance? grandson of the marvelous Dubai Millennium, a son of Seeking the Whatever the reason, Dubawi has Gold and the Shareef Dancer mare made a serious name for himself Colorado Dancer. A racehorse with in Europe and has gone a long way a piercing turn of foot, Dubai Mil- toward entrenching the male line lennium won nine of his 10 starts, of Mr. Prospector through Seeking losing only the English Derby. The the Gold as a major force in Euro- bay won four times at the G1 level, pean breeding for the future. twice at a mile in the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Queen Elizabeth II Dubawi is the sire of 87 stakes win- Stakes, and twice at 10 furlongs in ners, including 58 group stakes the Dubai World Cup and the Prince winners and 17 G1 winners. That of Wales’s Stakes. is breathtaking for a sire who is only 13 and who has six crops to Dubai Millennium appeared ready to race age 3 and older. In addition to extend his dominance to the 12-furlong races in Europe Mubtaahij, Dubawi has sired the English 2,000 Guineas when a fracture to a hind cannon ended his career. Re- winners Makfi and Night of Thunder, plus Dubai World Cup tired to stud at Dalham Hall in England, Dubai Millennium winners Monterosso and 2015 winner Prince Bishop, a attracted an extraordinary book of mares before tragedy gelding from his sire’s first crop. struck and the horse fell victim to grass sickness part way through his first season at stud. A further point of interest is that the Dubawi’s G1 winners have won around the world from England and France to From 56 foals, Dubai Millennium sired some good horses, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, Cana- including one who was almost as good as himself in Dubawi, da, and the U.S., where Dubawi Heights won a pair of G1 the winner in five of his eight starts at 2 and 3. Dubawi won stakes in California. PRS G1 races both seasons that he raced, accounting for the Nationwide® offers INSURANCE DISCOUNTS. Learn More www.PaulickReport.com Page 3 Misplaced Vowels And The Road To The Tripel Crown (Sorry, We Had To) By Natalie Voss Ever since American Pharoah emerged a star juvenile last The gelded son of Jump Start has gone on to achieve at year, English majors everywhere began scratching their least as much attention as an eventer, if not more, with heads over the placement of the last two vowels in the 3,300 Facebook fans as he has progressed to the prelimi- colt’s name. nary level under Olympian Phillip Dutton. The horse was in fact named for the fictional school teacher Ichabod Crane Although there are many rules about the length and con- in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. tent of a horse’s Jockey Club-registered name, Merriam Webster’s blessing is not required. Approved name re- “I went to school in Sleepy Hollow, so I know just where the quests are sent back to owners, providing them another headless horseman rode,” Earle Mack said after Evan Ship- opportunity to notice any mistakes, but Jockey Club officials man Stakes. are used to seeing odd spellings. ‘Icabad’ was phonetically correct, anyway, as was Govenor “Normal course of business is to check the names as Charlie, the Bob Baffert trainee who won the Grade 3 Sun- presented to the Registry Office,” said Rick Bailey, Jockey land Derby then finished eighth in the 2013 Preakness. Club registrar. “Anecdotally, a good number of misspelled The Govenor is still in training at Baffert’s home base at names are submitted that way intentionally, sometimes Santa Anita. because of the way a name is spelled/misspelled in the pedigree.” Continued on Page 4 Although that doesn’t appear to have been the case here, American Pharoah’s connections are certainly not the first on the trail of a Triple Crown race to misplace a few letters on their horse’s registration papers. In 2009, a horse called Friesan Fire swept the Le Comte, the Risen Star, and the Louisiana Derby for Larry Jones and Vinery Stables/Fox Hill Farm. The A.P. Indy colt was 18th in the Kentucky Derby and 10th in the Preakness. Since Friesan isn’t recognized as a word, it’s likely the horse was named for the medieval ethnic group inhabiting the German and Dutch coasts, or perhaps the drafty-type breed of black horses originating from that area. Both the people and the horse are called ‘Friesians’ (or sometimes Frisians). One year earlier, Icabad Crane finished third in the Preak- ness for owner Earle Mack and trainer Graham Motion. RANDOM FACTS by Ray Paulick More than 7,800 liters of bourbon (about 175,000 “shots”) will be needed as the major ingredient for Mint Juleps on Saturday. Churchill Downs will go through 475,000 pounds of shaved ice for Oaks and Derby day.