Dullahan ready to strike

DUBAI — Dale Romans insists Dullahan has got over his prep race stage fright here and he is now primed to strike at the Dubai World Cup on Saturday night.

The four-year-old colt got worked up and a lit bit spooked by the unfamiliar surroundings on Super Saturday at Meydan earlier this month, when he finished 11^th and 14 and three-quarter lengths behind winner African Story in the Grade Three Burj Nahaar over 1,600m.

However, with that initial outing in the emirate 19 days ago now, Romans feels his American raider has since become sufficiently accustomed to the new environment and he’s ready to make a big impression at the front of the field.

“I was disappointed in him on Super Saturday because he just got all shook up when we went into the holding barn and that wasn’t him,” Dullahan’s trainer Romans said.

“That’s not his normal way of doing things, but he was just hot in the barn; he was nervous; he wouldn’t stand still and jittery the whole time.

“It’s a little difficult when you have to walk two miles to the race track. He’s never had to do that in America, where all of my three barns are 10 steps off the race track.

“We’ve never had to put him in a van and ship him to a whole new barn and stay there for an hour and a half with all of the activity that’s going on around him.

“He’s settled in now having been here all this time. I was so happy to see him on Tuesday night because he was very composed.

“He looked like he’d figured it out and he’s not intimidated by the bigness of the race track or anything. We’re going to see the best of him.”

Romans readily concedes though that all of the 13 runners will be looking to perform at their optimum in a high-calibre contest worth US$10m overall, adding: “This is a world-class field; it’s the best of the best and they’re all going to be tough. I don’t think it would be a shocker in the race whoever won.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com