Bennie Woolley, the Kentucky Derby-winning trainer, said yesterday that the American challenge for the Dubai World Cup is over for the "foreseeable future" and that his compatriots will not race their best horses at the meeting.
His comments come after Saturday's first running of the world's richest horse race on Tapeta, a synthetic surface, at Dubai's new Meydan Racecourse. The US$10 million (Dh36.7m) race was won by the French-trained Gloria de Campeao, the first winner in the 15-year history of the World Cup not trained in America or by Godolphin.
"I was disappointed at the number of ours that went over there and how they performed," Woolley said.
"I think it is detrimental to the world programme that Dubai have gone with synthetic. It rules out dirt horses from the mix, and I really do think that it will stem the tide of American horses for the foreseeable future."
Gloria de Campeao, who is trained by Pascal Bary in France, had been outclassed by 14 lengths when finishing second on dirt to the American horse Well Armed in the World Cup in 2009, but because of the change in surface the US challenge at the meeting was much reduced this year.
The connections of a host of top US dirt performers chose to skip the race, including the unbeaten filly Zenyatta, even though she won last year's Breeders' Cup Classic on Pro-Ride, another synthetic surface.
"I'm not a fan of synthetic at all," said Woolley.
"The grass horses seem to do better on it. It's to do with their action. Grass horses tend to have more of an action, whereas dirt horses move more smoothly.
"Horses were born to run on grass and dirt."
* Reuters
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets