Maybe it’s irony or happenstance or just good planning but the UAE Derby (G2), which has become an important piece in assembling the field for the Kentucky Derby (G1), goes to the post March 30 with just a single American-trained 3-year-old in the field.
On the flip side, the field does include arguably the best Kentucky Derby candidates from Japan and Europe, as well as contenders bred in Argentina and Uruguay.
The UAE Derby, contested at 1,900 meters (about 1 3/16 miles), is the only race in the primary Churchill Downs Road to the Kentucky Derby series run outside the United States. The qualifying system has separate series in Europe and Japan and has two spots designated for a potential starter from these special series. The UAE Derby offers points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale, essentially guaranteeing the winner and likely the runner-up an entry in the Run for the Roses.
Prominent in the field is Forever Young , an undefeated Real Steel colt whose connections abandoned the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby in favor of a trip to the Middle East and were rewarded with a hard-fought victory in the Saudi Derby (G3) Feb. 24 in Riyadh.
Also in the diverse bunch lining up the the UAE Derby is Navy Seal , a Coolmore-bred colt by Dubawi , who leads by default on the European Road to the Kentucky Derby. Navy Seal has a lot more to prove than Forever Young with only one win and a third from five starts.
The American contender is Pandagate , winner of two of his three races for trainer Christophe Clement. In his most recent, he won the Feb. 25 Gander Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack by 5 1/2 lengths despite a rough start. That win came against fellow New York-breds but on the plus side, his sire Arrogate turned in one of the most stunning performances in the history of the Dubai World Cup (G1) in winning the 2017 edition after blowing the start.
The only other direct American connections in the race are with trainer Bhupat Seemar, a former aide to Bob Baffert, who fields Kentucky-bred but Dubai-raced Mendelssohn Bay, who won the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) Jan. 26, and Guns and Glory, a Kentucky-bred son of Gun Runner and breakaway winner in his last start. Seemar was to have started Killer Collect , winner of the Feb. 23 Al Bastakiya, a key UAE Derby prep, but that Kentucky-bred colt was a late scratch with a bruised foot.
In the Al Bastakiya, Killer Collect got home just a neck in front of Auto Bahn , perhaps the most imposing of three Southern Hemisphere contenders in the UAE Derby. He was acquired by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa al Maktoum after winning in Argentina and finished second in both his Meydan starts.
The other South Americans, Oasis Boy and Rock Walk, would need significant improvement to compete.
Three other Japanese horses accompany Forever Young for the Derby. Of those, George Tesoro , a Best Warrior colt, seems the most likely. He finished second in last November’s Cattleya Stakes, the second leg of the Japan Road on the dirt at Tokyo Racecourse.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien supports Navy Seal with stablemate Henry Adams . He, too, has a lot to prove as he makes his 3-year-old debut and first start on dirt. He won the Tyros Stakes (G3) at Leopardstown and was fourth in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) in his final start of 2023.
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