Dubai Carnival beads: Tryster begins new love affair with turf

We all knew that Tryster was in love with synthetic. He’s unbeaten from six starts on the stuff, with a jet propulsion-style late kick on display in last year’s Winter Derby (G3) and Easter Classic. But was the Godolphin runner quite as enamored of the turf? After all, his three career losses have come on the grass. Sure, he won on turf once, but that was a mere short-field maiden at Brighton!

Tryster gave a comprehensive rejoinder in last Thursday’s Dubai Millennium (G3), so definitive as to render any more questions superfluous. Yes, the Shamardal gelding is equally effective on turf too.

Lolling at the rear behind slow early fractions – “You could almost beat them on a bicycle,” in Meydan announcer Terry Spargo’s apt phrase – Tryster inhaled them all in the stretch. He won doing handstands, or as the Australians might say, on his ear. As his rivals were flat to the boards, Tryster was surging past under a hand ride for the most part, other than a flick of the whip to keep him on task.

And it wasn’t just the visual impression at the end of the about 1 1/4-mile test. The clock, or more precisely Trakus, spells it out: a final 600 meters (about three furlongs) in :33.199. The penultimate furlong – between the mile and nine-furlong point – was :10.73. By the way, Tryster also had the widest trip, covering 9 meters (almost 30 feet) more than the pacesetter and runner-up Haafaguinea.

Thus trainer Charlie Appleby was rewarded for his wise decision to forego a Dubai World Cup (G1) bid, thanks to Tryster’s unhappy training on the dirt, and give him another opportunity on the turf. Aside from the obvious spots remaining for him here – the March 5 Jebel Hatta (G1) on Super Saturday and the Dubai Turf (G1) on World Cup night – Tryster now enters calculations for the turf highlights of the British summer.

If there’s one caveat, it’s the fact that a sit-and-sprint like the Dubai Millennium played right into Tryster’s hands, particularly against a field of Carnival types. Although both Appleby and jockey William Buick said that he’d prefer a fast pace set-up, Tryster is usually going to outsprint his foes if it turns into a mad dash for home. A more searching gallop may take some sting out of his late kick against Group 1 rivals on turf, and a lackadaisical start can leave him with too much to do if the field gets strung out.

But for now, the most significant takeaway is that defending champion Solow will face a showdown in the Dubai Turf. While we didn’t get the match-up we really wanted (Solow vs. Maurice), Tryster may make things interesting.

 

Faulkner flatters Frosted: Talented but fragile Faulkner, pummeled into third by Frosted in the Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (G2) February 4, bounced back with a gutsy decision in a handicap over the same about 1 3/16-mile distance. Conceding 11 pounds to the 11-year-old front runner Tiz Now Tiz Then, Faulkner prevailed after a prolonged stretch duel in which neither gave an inch. In the process, he continued trainer Doug Watson’s hot hand on the dirt.

All things being equal, a typical Carnival handicap on dirt wouldn’t be viewed as a boost to Frosted, but I’d contend that this one qualifies on two counts. The first is the final time: Faulkner finished in 1:56.72, just off Frosted’s track record of 1:56.62. This illustrates that Faulkner is no mug, but Frosted took him out of his comfort zone and ripped him apart. Competing against a different grade of rival will do that.

The second is the gap back to the rest of the field. The top two pulled 7 3/4 lengths clear of third, Godolphin’s all-weather specialist Let’s Go, who ran marginally better in his second dirt try (with the help of a first-time visor). The same couldn’t be said of another Godolphin synthetic type, Cat O’Mountain, who was just about as miserable again in 11th.

Even more miserable was the South African-raced Ertijaal, an epic disappointment on a surface I thought he’d not only handle but enjoy. Although the Mike de Kock pupil appeared to be traveling OK in a good stalking spot, he waved the white flag when push came to shove turning for home, and took his sweet time coming home 12th. As if to say, “I don’t care that I’m by Hard Spun; I hate this,” Ertijaal vetoed the switch to dirt.

De Kock had always been straightforward about this being an experiment.

“This was a test for Ertijaal and he didn’t act on dirt. Simple as that,” the trainer said on his website. “We’ll go back to the turf in the Jebel Hatta and you will see a different result.”

Faulkner, however, won’t be in action on Super Saturday. Watson indicated that we may see him next in the March 26 Godolphin Mile (G2).