More of the same for Godolphin's Derby dreams
By Bill FinleyThis is Year Seven of Godolphin Racing's quest to win the Kentucky Derby and it's already obvious the seventh try will be no different than the six that have come before it. The Maktoum family will aim a horse for the Kentucky Derby that will be improperly prepared for the race and can only finish dozens of lengths behind the winner.
There may be something to be said for persistence. These people have stuck to a plan and just will not give in. But, eventually persistence evolves into foolishness. With Godolphin, it has reached that point.
There's no secret to winning the Kentucky Derby. You need the right horse and the horse has to follow a tried and tested path to the race that will ensure he is in peak form and mentally tough enough come Derby Day. Let him accomplish something as a 2-year-old. Then start early in the year, run through the prep races and then put them to the ultimate test in the Derby. Talent alone will not get the job done.
Sheikh Mohammed, the main force behind Godolphin Racing, either doesn't understand that or is so stubborn that he will not admit that his method of preparing a horse for the Kentucky Derby clearly isn't working. My guess is that it's the latter.
Since the Maktoums first showed up at Churchill Downs and Sheikh Mohammed let it be known how much he covets winning the Kentucky Derby, Godolphin horses have finished seventh, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. Each one took pretty much the same failed route to the race.
Godolphin's Kentucky Derby hope this time around was Shamardal, a brilliant 2-year-old undefeated in three starts last year in England. He's probably as talented as any 3-year-old in the world, but Godolphin was prepared to send him to the Kentucky Derby off one prep, in the UAE Derby. Never mind that every bit of history says that no horse with four lifetime starts with just one prep as a 3-year-old could possibly win the Kentucky Derby. They have this plan and they're going to stick it. Never mind that it hasn't exactly worked in the past.
Shamardal, probably unable to handle a dirt surface, ran miserably in the UAE Derby, losing by 46 1/4 lengths. As his stock crashed, a new Godolphin contender emerged in Blues and Royals, who scored a shocking 12-length win. The Florida-bred son of Honour and Glory gave no indication as a 2-year-old that he would be a top class horse, but this could be a case where he wasn't able to show his best stuff until being switched to the dirt.
The obvious plan of attack from this point would be to ship him to the U.S. to run in a race like the Blue Grass to give him the seasoning he desperately needs. Instead, Godolphin will put him on the shelf before showing up at Churchill Downs with a horse who hasn't run in six weeks, has made just four lifetime starts and has had only one 3-year-old prep race. They are doomed to fail.
Even wackier is the Shamardal situation. After he showed that he has absolutely no business ever getting near a dirt surface again, they are still considering running him in the Kentucky Derby.
"Everything seems fine with Shamardal this morning and nothing has come to light," Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford told the Racing Post. "We will let the dust settle and just wait and see. There is no rush to make any plans at this stage."
Sheikh Mohammed wants to win the Kentucky Derby but he wants to win it on his own terms. He has never quite grasped how difficult a race the Kentucky Derby is to win. You can bring a horse in off a long layoff and with scant preparation and win a European classic. The Maktoums have done it many times. But the Kentucky Derby is unique, a race so demanding that a horse simply cannot win it without the proper foundation and without enough experience.
What's the harm in swallowing some pride and doing it the conventional way? Doesn't that beat getting your brains beat in every time you show up at the Kentucky Derby? Godolphin comes up with plenty of talented horses every year, including ones who start off in the U.S. as 2-year-olds under Eoin Harty. All they need to do is campaign them, or a European horse with dirt potential, in Florida, Arkansas or California in the 3-year-old preps, just like everyone else does. Give them the standard three American preps and then show up at Churchill Downs with a horse who is ready for the mission ahead. With the ammunittion they have, in time, the rest would take care of itself.
Yet Godolphin show no signs of wavering. Until they do, winning the Kentucky Derby will remain an elusive goal.
