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Dubai: For the first time since 2000 Saudi Arabia look set to be without a representative in the $6 million Dubai World Cup, after Premium Tap was reported to be a 'doubtful' starter by his connections.
Shortly after watching the six-year-old, who finished second to Invasor in last year's race, work at the Jenadriyah racetrack, Argentine trainer Julio Gardel said that all plans were on hold.
"At the moment we are not sure about his running in the World Cup," Gardel told Gulf News from Riyadh. "Unfortunately he's not where we want him to be at this stage.
"So far the horse is not going, but we would like to leave the door open and see if things change.
Gardel, who replaced American John Kimmel as trainer to Premium Tap's owners King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz & Sons last year, stressed that the decision taken was not completely influenced by yesterday's blow-out.
"It was not a very strong piece of work, nothing very special. But it wasn't bad either," said Gardel.
"The whole scenario has changed since the King's Cup, where he finished fourth. The Dubai World Cup is a very strong race and you need a horse to have the perfect form and fitness to ne competitive.
"A horse that is very solid and consistent. Unfortunately Premium Tap is not that horse," the trainer added. "You can be an optimist, but you also have to be realistic. We were very careful about that. But I hope we can still have some chance of going to Dubai."
Two weeks ago Joe Louis, who beat Premium Tap in the King's Cup on February 15, was also named as a non-starter for the Dubai World Cup.
Gardel, who has won every major race in Saudi Arabia since he first took out a trainer's license in 2003, said he was a little surprised that the horse would not run but felt that it was always right to have the interest of the horse at heart when taking major decisions.
"If you think it's not the right time, then it's not the right time," he said. "There is a time for everything and in racing you have to be very careful not to overtrain a horse and do things one step at a time.
Saudi Arabia has had 12 runners in the Dubai World Cup, with Premium Tap, Dyever (2005) and Sei Mi ('02) finishing second.
The odds
- 11-8 Curlin
- 9-2 Asiatic Boy
- 6-1 Happy Boy
- 8-1 Spring At Last
- 9-1 Premium Tap
- 10-1 Literato
- 16-1 Vermilion
- 20-1 Daiwa Scarlet, Lucky Find
- 25-1 Latency, Well Armed
- 33-1 Awesome Gem, Forty
- Licks, Student Council
- 40-1 Kandidate,
- 50-1 Halicarnassus
- 66-1 Jack Sullivan
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