Globetrotting Godolphin horses Eastern Anthem and Gladiatorus have the chance to recapture their Dubai form today as they contest tough Group Ones in Germany and France. Both were last seen at Royal Ascot where Eastern Anthem failed to make good on his Group One Dubai Sheema Classic win, finishing fifth in the Ascot Gold Cup, 24 lengths behind four-time race winner, Yeats.
To give the five-year-old son of Singspiel his dues, he was taking a massive step-up in trip from his 1m 4f Nad al Sheba success and from his European season start, the Coronation Cup at Epsom. He never found his stride in that contest either though, crossing sixth, 11 lengths from winner, Ask. In stepping him up to the two-and-a-half mile Gold Cup, Godolphin would have been hoping that after failing to fire over his proven distance, he would show a flare for the marathon trip. Though he is no doubt versatile, he was beaten a good five lengths from home.
Godolphin, whose two and three year olds are coming into fantastic form after scoring an incredible nine times in races on Thursday and Friday, have now brought Eastern Anthem back to his most effective trip - one and a half miles - for the Group One Rheinland-Pokal in Cologne where Ahmed Ajtebi takes the ride. "It's a good trip for him," said racing manager, Simon Crisford, yesterday. "He's useful and can go over any distance really but this is the right race. He can also run on any ground other than extremes of going, but we think the conditions in Cologne will be ideal. It will tell us whether he can recapture his Dubai form."
Gladiatorus, the other Godolphin runner to shine on Dubai World Cup night, albeit under a different trainer, has now recovered from a corn in his foot that forced him to miss recent US race, the Arlington Million. He travels to Deauville today for the highly competitive and unapologetically wordy, Group One Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois over a mile with Frankie Dettori in the irons.
Like his stablemate he has been unable to reproduce the turn of foot that saw him thrash the rest in the Group One Dubai Duty Free under Ajtebi. Ajtebi's attempt to ride him in the same front-running manner in the opening Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot was a miserable failure, with Richard Hannon's Paco Boy - beaten into eighth by Gladiatorus in Dubai - the deserving winner. And though the form of other runners in the Duty Free has held true (second-placed Presvis, trained by Luca Cumani, won the Group One Audemars Piguet QEII Cup in Hong Kong and was runner-up in the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji), Gladiatorus is the one who still has all to prove.
stregoning@thenational.ae
