HAVEN NO HEAVEN
By Ray Paulick
Desert Party won Thursday night’s UAE 2000 Guineas at Nad Al Sheba racecourse in Dubai, rallying from just off the pace under Lanfranco Dettori to score an "under wraps" victory over Regal Ransom and pacesetter Redding Colliery. Vineyard Haven, winner of the Hopeful and Champagne Stakes last year and runner-up to Midshipman in Eclipse Award voting, finished a distant fourth in his first start in Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin silks. The son of Lido Palace had previously been owned by a partnership that included trainer Robert Frankel and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre before a reported $12-million offer from the ruler of Dubai.
The winner was making his second start in Dubai for trainer Saeed bin Suroor, coming off a half-length win Jan. 22 in the Ford Flex Trophy, a prep for the Grade 3 UAE 2000 Guineas. A 3-year-old son of Street Cry out of Sage Cat, by Tabasco Cat, Desert Party began his career in the United States for trainer Eoin Harty, breaking his maiden on Polytrack at Arlington Park in June, then beating three horses in the Grade 2 Sanford on a muddy Saratoga dirt track July 24. Desert Party finished a well beaten sixth behind Vineyard Haven in Saratoga’s Hopeful. Bred in Kentucky by David Smith and Steven Sinatra, Desert Party was a $2.1 million purchase at Fasig-Tipton’s February sale of 2-year-olds in training at Calder after Paul Pompa had purchased him for $425,000 at the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Runner-up Regal Ransom, a $675,000 purchase at the same Calder 2-year-old sale, broke his maiden at Saratoga in August but finished eighth in the Grade 1 Norfolk in his only other U.S. start. He also ran second to Desert Party in the Ford Flex, his first race in Dubai.
Vineyard Haven, purchased privately after winning the Champagne Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths, appeared a bit rank in the early going while racing to the outside and just off the early lead of Redding Colliery. He failed to respond when asked by jockey T.E. Durcan and was never a threat down the stretch of the one-turn, one-mile contest.
Tags: desert party, dubai, Godolphin, robert frankel, saeed bin suroor, sheikh mohammed, uae 2000 guineas, vineyard haven
February 12th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Godolphin ruins another nice American 2 yr old purchase. Surprise. I admire their operation in many ways but will never understand their desire to spot ill suited horses to ill suited races in the desert as classic preps. For one thing, while VH was brilliant last year, he is not a classic horse pedigree wise. They say they have learned this lesson but I guess they needed to spend 12m more to be sure. Taking VH and MS from Frankel and Baffert respectively just leaves one shaking head if the object is to win and improve stud value.
February 12th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Barbara if you characterize Vineyard haven as ‘ruined’ by running in Dubai then what do you say about the winner of that race Desert Party (KY)? Just like Midshipman and Vineyard he’s a US import brought in to train and prep in Dubai. This was his 2nd start and victory at Nad Al Sheba in 2009. He’s only flopped, if you will, in the Hopeful Stakes but has done just fine since then.
If Godolphin still truly wants Vineyard in the Derby (I don’t see why myself) or Midshipman then they’ll send either to England in a couple weeks for entry into the $150,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes (“KDCSâ€) at Kempton Park March 18th. A win in that is an automatic starting gate in the Kentucky Derby.
February 12th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I think you missed my point about VH’s pedigree? And DP was always a Darley 2 yr old - not from an entirely different program - and I could be wrong, but I believe he arrived in Dubai sooner as well. DP has improved. I think VH might have, too, if left with Frankel, not had his training set back, and started back in shorter preps as they stretched him out. IMO. He was more of a longshot based on pedigree than Desert Party to go on at age three.
And neither MS or VH needs help to get into the Derby with the graded earnings they won last year. All set there. They will not go to England. Crisford already stated that MS might prep in the Bluegrass after he runs Mar. 5 over there - to be decided later. And he admitted that VH is not doing well and needed a race.