Dubai: Cladocera ascending, Hunter's Light rekindled

The upwardly mobile Cladocera joined an exclusive club last Thursday, adding the Balanchine (UAE-G2) to her previous success in the January 29 Cape Verdi (UAE-G2). Only two others have turned that double -- Sun Classique (2008) and Sajjhaa (2013) -- and both went on to defeat males on World Cup night. Sun Classique captured the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1), and Sajjhaa took the Jebel Hatta (UAE-G1) on Super Saturday en route to landing the Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1).

But the parallel shouldn't be pushed too far for Cladocera. Sun Classique brought substantial laurels to Dubai as a South African champion. Although Sajjhaa wasn't as compelling a figure as Sun Classique, she did have some smart bits of form dotting her prior resume, and the addition of headgear made all the difference during her Dubai sweep.

In contrast, Cladocera turned up at the Carnival as a lightly raced sort on the upswing, and she has made good with her dynamic turn of foot. Although the daughter of Oasis Dream was dispatching mostly the same rivals, the Balanchine did pose a slightly different test: Cladocera was spotting them three pounds this time as the 129-pound highweight, and stepping up in distance from a metric mile to about nine furlongs. She nonetheless swooped late in similar fashion, under another confident ride by Christophe Soumillon.

 

Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre has made no secret of his high regard for Cladocera, so Group 1 challenges surely beckon. If she goes the Sajjhaa route toward the Dubai Turf (the rebranded Duty Free), however, Cladocera would be on a collision course with Mike de Kock's world-class Vercingetorix. Not only would he be a formidable foe as the defending Jebel Hatta champion and Duty Free runner-up, but he would also keep his regular partner Soumillon in the saddle.

Bagging a course record: Godolphin's Hunter's Light could also be on the Dubai Turf trail after his course record-setting score in the Dubai Millennium S. The established class of the field, the Saeed bin Suroor charge rebuffed de Kock's upstart Umgiyo in 2:00.67 for about 1 1/4 miles on the turf.

Umgiyo lost no luster in defeat. The South African import was trying this trip for the first time after blowing away handicap foes at about 1 1/8 miles. Hunter's Light had better early position in midpack, and accordingly got first run on Umgiyo, who was following in the winner's slipstream throughout. Giving valiant chase down the stretch, Umgiyo could not bridge the 1 3/4-length gap, but finished more than four lengths clear of third. The Australian-bred son of Danehill Dancer, who was making just his 10th lifetime start, has plenty more to offer.