Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)
Everyone loves a story of the underdog or the one with an X factor, and KabirKhan will have everyone keep one eye on him when he heads to the starting gates for the Dubai World Cup race at Meydan on Saturday night.
If Kabirkhan wins the US$12 million Group 1 race, it will be a rags-to-riches story from an unlikely horse racing destination – Kazakhstan; And, with a touch of the UAE for the hosts of one of the showpiece events on the horse racing calendar.
Unheard of outside either Kazakhstan where he began his career, or Russia where he continued it, he only burst onto the international scene in January of this year when he bolted up on his UAE debut, a well-contested handicap.
| ALSO READ |
| Track notes for title challengers |
| Ushba Tesoro hopes get high five spot in World Cup draw |
The horse which fetched just $12,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland September Sale in Kentucky then became a Group 1 winner on his next start at Meydan only two weeks later in the Al Maktoum Challenge.
Since arriving from the US, Kabirkhan’s first race was a three-horse one over a slushy surface in Almaty as he won the top prize equivalent of $350. Nadir Khassanov, the bloodstock agent who bought him, passed Kabirkhan on to owner Tlek Mukanbetkaliyev and in the training of Doug Watson in Dubai.
A video of the colt’s race in Almaty and winning Al Maktoum Challenge two weeks later is going viral as the word is spreading out. The latter race also marked a first at the highest level for Watson, despite being champion trainer in the UAE on eight occasions.
This is INCREDIBLE! 😲
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) January 27, 2024
Watch KABIRKHAN make his debut at Almaty Hippodrome in Kazakhstan in 2022...and then watch his runaway G1 win in the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan @RacingDubai last night! 🇰🇿 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/Z6jKSZtLwp
Kabirkhan is a four-year-old son of California Chrome. The sire, now based in Japan, similarly rose from humble origins to glory in the Kentucky Derby in 2014 and the Dubai World Cup two years later. Now that he has grabbed the attention of the racing world – and with planeloads of fans arriving in Dubai from Central Asia for the occasion - something quite unprecedented is looming.
Anticipation in Kazakhstan for the big race is feverish. “He’s got to step it up, but we think he can. He has shown that he likes the track. He stays the trip, but he has the pace to keep him competitive in the race early and hopefully he can finish it off,” said Watson.
The American-born trainer reflects with pride on the chestnut colt’s meteoric rise from unknown to clear second-favourite for the Dubai World Cup. Watson then opted to keep Kabirkhan under wraps and fresh for the big night, a strategy that could reap huge rewards.
“He is a fun horse to have. He’s a horse that does everything you want at home and on the racetrack,” the trainer said.
Meanwhile, Khassanov told racing website Thouroughbred Daily News: “We Kazakh equestrians have long dreamed of getting to Dubai, and then such a magnificent horse as Kabirkhan turned up, and we decided to try it.”
Ready, Ushba Tesoro?! 🇯🇵
— Dubai Racing Club (@RacingDubai) March 29, 2024
Just one day until he defends his crown in the #DubaiWorldCup!#DWC24 #ウシュバテソーロ pic.twitter.com/SBGns1dDCR
