Laurel River’s return, Seemar weighs up ‘Fashion Friday’ team
Romantic Warrior was the headliner in Dubai with his impressive G1 Jebel Hatta victory last January, but with the Hong Kong star staying home to contest the G1 Stewards’ Cup instead, the focus of next week’s corresponding ‘Fashion Friday’ fixture will be the testing of G1 Dubai World Cup aspirations in the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge and G3 Firebreak Stakes.
Dubai racing’s biggest name, Laurel River, is being considered for a return from a year-long lay-off in the Firebreak, a race in which he suffered a jaw-dropping defeat 12 months ago. The 2024 Dubai World Cup winner, fresh off being named that year’s world’s best racehorse – equal with City Of Troy – roared to a long lead in the home straight that night, only to weaken and finish second.
The Juddmonte homebred was then ruled out of the Saudi Cup due to what was described at the time as “a hiccup” and then the Dubai World Cup also. The UAE’s two-time champion trainer Bhupat Seemar is aiming the eight-year-old towards the World Cup again on March 28, along with a strong cohort of stablemates, notably last year’s Maktoum Challenge hero Walk Of Stars.
“Laurel River is doing great,” Seemar told Idol Horse. “We might run him over a mile on the 23rd, in the Firebreak Stakes. He’s probably about 75 to 80 percent ready to run but we might as well give him a run and go on to Super Saturday, then the World Cup, hopefully.
“He carried the Group 1 penalty in the Firebreak last year and he went really fast. Maybe he might just be a little bit better this year than that time. But we leave a bit for the next race, because the main aim is the World Cup and we don’t want to bottom them yet.”
Laurel River “hit his back leg on his front leg and got a bit of swelling” during “a routine gallop” before last year’s Dubai World Cup, Seemar explained.
“It was no big deal and it did resolve in a week or 10 days,” he continued. “But that meant we couldn’t train him and you can’t go for the World Cup if you can’t train him 10 days out of the last 15 days. We didn’t want to risk anything, we did Exo-scans and everything and in fact he was training again at World Cup time, but it was just really bad timing.”
That left Walk Of Stars as Seemar’s main Dubai World Cup contender and the gelding fared well in fourth. But after winning the 2000m Maktoum Challenge, the free-running Walk Of Stars had finished a well-beaten 12th in the Saudi Cup behind Forever Young.
This time around, the plan looks likely to be a defence of the Maktoum Challenge, but he could face a handful of stablemates at a fixture that is key to the Seemar team’s preparations for the World Cup meeting.
Walk Of Stars and Artorius were third and second respectively last month behind the British contender Heart Of Honor, with Remorse and Kabirkhan fifth and seventh. Seemar was satisfied with his place-getters.
“The original plan with Walk Of Stars was to go straight to the Maktoum Challenge (first-up): the owner and the racing manager discussed it with me and it was decided there’s no point going to a big Group 1 without having a run, trying to run against horses that already had one or two runs,” he said.
“He was only about seventy-five percent fit, he carried a Group 1 penalty, about three and a half kilos more than the winner Heart Of Honor, so this time he’ll be on level weights, and there won’t be a fitness advantage.”
Artorius had three runs in Dubai last season after importing from Brad Cox’s barn in the US and placed fourth in the Firebreak then second behind another Seemar runner, Imperial Emperor, in the G2 Maktoum Classic.
“These horses improve the next year after they come here from America, so Artorius seems that kind of a candidate,” Seemar said. “He ran a good race last time and he also carried a kilo more than the winner because of weight for age. I’m not sure how much more improvement there is, but there should be some natural improvement.”
Meanwhile, Imperial Emperor, Commissioner King and Mendelssohn Bay, first second and third in the G2 Al Maktoum Mile last time, all have options on both the Firebreak and the Maktoum Challenge, in which Imperial Emperor was second last year.
This Week In Horse Racing History
The great Citation returned from injury at Santa Anita on January 11, 1950. The five-year-old had missed his entire four-year-old season due to an arthritic fetlock joint, and last raced in December 1948. The Triple Crown winner made it 16 straight wins on his return at odds of 3-20.
Another racing great, Citation’s Triple Crown-winning jockey Eddie Arcaro, had his first career win at Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico on January 14, 1932, aged 16.
The next day, January 15, 1932, Australia’s legendary champion Phar Lap arrived in San Francisco on his journey to Agua Caliente where he would win the Agua Caliente Handicap, on March 20.
On January 15, 1978 Japan’s undefeated champion Maruzensky had a retirement ceremony at Tokyo racecourse in his honour. Due to restrictions on foreign-bred imports – he arrived in Japan in utero – at the time, the colt was barred from contesting Japan’s Triple Crown races as a three-year-old but put together a sequence of eight wins including a wide-margin triumph in the two-year-old championship-deciding Asahi Hai Sansei Stakes.
Idol Horse Reads Of The Week
Zac Purton had seven Hong Kong Derby contenders in his hands prior to last Sunday’s racing at Sha Tin. David Morgan and Michael Cox look inside the champion’s decision to ride Sagacious Life and what that meant for his fellow jockeys.
In his latest must-read column, former jockey and Hong Kong racing expert Shane Dye breaks down what the must-have factor is when sourcing a horse to race in Hong Kong, and shares his insights into the trainers’ title race and the current state of the Triple Trio.
David Morgan, Michael Cox
Inside Zac Purton’s Sagacious Life Choice And Its Classic Series Ripple Effects
The Hayes family’s Lindsay Park property in Victoria suffered devastation last week as bush fires swept through, killing seven horses and destroying infrastructure. Back in October, Adam Pengilly spoke to David Hayes about the Lindsay Park legacy of his late father, Colin Hayes.
Racing Photo Of The Week
Goldarnie sent jockey Cody Collis airborne before the start of race six at Gold Coast on January 9. The Stuart Kendrick-trained filly was a 70/1 chance for the 1100m contest, despite winning her previous two starts at Sunshine Coast. Bethany Allday captured the dangerous yet spectacular moment and it was reported that there were no injuries, although Goldarnie was scratched.
Date
3 January, 2026
Photographer
Bethany Allday (instagram: @bethvair) for Trackside Photography
Location
Aquis Park (Gold Coast)
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Goldarnie sent jockey Cody Collis airborne before the start of race six at Gold Coast on January 9. The Stuart Kendrick-trained filly was a 70/1 chance for the 1100m contest, despite winning her previous two starts at Sunshine Coast. Bethany Allday captured the dangerous yet spectacular moment and it was reported that there were no injuries, although Goldarnie was scratched.
Global Blackbook
It’s not common for a horse to win a Grade 2 race at its second start, but So Happy made it two from two when he won the G2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita last weekend. The Runhappy three-year-old bagged a debut win at Del Mar in November at odds of 38/1 and with this follow-up win has earned a probable shot at the G1 Santa Anita Derby next time.
The Mark Glatt-trained colt was a US$12,000 foal and sold on as a yearling for US$20,000 before Glatt secured him for US$150,000 at Ocala last March. And his career is progressing similarly after this smart victory saw him surge to the lead in the home straight.
In recent years Muth and Nadal have gone on from this race to win the G1 Arkansas Derby, while Nyquist won the San Vicente 10 years ago on his way to winning the G1 Florida Derby and G1 Kentucky Derby.
So Happy still has to find a fair bit of improvement to measure up to that, but he appears to have upside and as jockey Mike Smith said post-race: “Who knows, man? Let’s see where this takes us.”
World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up
Al Maktoum Challenge Day
Meydan, Dubai, January 23
The Bhupat Seemar-trained Walk Of Stars won the G1 Maktoum Challenge last year and used the race as a prep into the G1 Saudi Cup in February, in which he failed to fire, and the G1 Dubai World Cup, in which he was fourth. He is expected to defend his title having placed third first-up at Meydan in December behind the Jamie Osborne-trained Heart Of Honor and his own stablemate Artorius. The card also features the G1 Jebel Hatta on turf and Godolphin could send out Opera Ballo and Nation’s Pride, first and second in the G2 Al Rashidiya at Meydan last month.
Railway Stakes Day
Ellerslie, New Zealand, January 24
Last year’s second Alabama Lass will seek revenge in the G1 Railway Stakes over 1200m, but seems certain to face Australian raiders in the two-time G2 Bobbie Lewis Quality winner Arkansaw Kid, and Jigsaw, who landed a hat-trick of wins in the Melbourne spring, notably the G2 McEwen Stakes. Australian Group 3-winner Espionage, now trained in New Zealand, will be ridden by Damian Lane.
Stewards’ Cup and Centenary Sprint Cup Day
Sha Tin, Hong Kong, January 25
There’s a dream double-bill at Sha Tin. The G1 Centenary Sprint Cup will see the world’s best sprinter Ka Ying Rising aim to match Silent Witness’s all-time Hong Kong record of 17 straight wins, and in the G1 Stewards’ Cup, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble will go head to head over a mile. The latter contest is the first leg of the Triple Crown, which Voyage Bubble won last year, being only the second horse to do so after River Verdon in the 1993-94 season.
Cape Town Met Day
Kenilworth, South Africa, January 31
The G1 Cape Town Met is one of South Africa’s three all-age majors, along with the Durban July and the Summer Cup. Last year trainer Justin Snaith won his third Cape Town Met in a row when Eight On Eighteen took the spoils under Richard Fourie. If the defending champ is to give Snaith a fourth straight win and become the first back-to-back winner since the triple winner Pocket Power (2007-2009), he will need to bounce back from finishing only eighth last week in the G1 King’s Plate over a mile. The Real Prince won the King’s Plate, having won the G1 Durban July last year by a neck from Eight On Eighteen and he too holds a Cape Town Met entry. ∎
