These guys are "Swift" · 31.05.10

It looks like Swift Thoroughbreds have brought another potential star to Hastings, thanks to their unique relationship with international racing powerhouse Darley.

Two years ago they bought Rosberg, a royally-bred son of A.P. Indy. A decent horse of not-quite Grade 1 calibre who had nevertheless raced well at Del Mar and Dubai, Rosberg would finish 2008 with a bang at Hastings, just holding off eventual B.C. Horse of the Year Krazy Koffee to win the Premier’s Championship. He now stands at stud ($3000 fee) at Canmor Farms.

Last year the star in the Swift Thoroughbreds barn was Teide (mentioned previously). One of a package of horses purchased from Darley in the off-season, Teide dominated the local older male division on his way to B.C. Horse of the Year honours. It looks like he will continue to dominate this year, after winning the George Royal Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths and just missing the track record for 6 1/2 furlongs in his season debut.

If Teide falters, Swift now have another Darley “cast-off” who could pick things up for them. Burj Dubai, named after the newly-completed tallest building in the world in Dubai, broke his maiden first-time-out this past Saturday in impressive fashion. The 4-year-old son of Distorted Humor had been purchased for $1 million as a yearling by Darley Stable in 2007, but never made it to the starting gate. Temperamental and hard-to-control, Burj Dubai was eventually turned over to Swift and trainer Dino Condilenios for a fraction of his original purchase price — presumably with the folks at Darley muttering the Arabic equivalent of “good luck, you’ll need it”.

Between being gelded to calm him down, and coming under the calming influence of exercise rider Christine Loseth, Burj Dubai has finally settled down. He is still temperamental — Hastings’ Daily Racing Form correspondent Randy Goulding suggests that punters “take a good look at him in the paddock and on post parade to see how he is behaving” before putting money on his nose. However, working 6 1/2 furlongs out of the gate in 1:18.40 a week before his debut indicated to his connections that he had turned the corner. He confirmed it in that race, winning by eight easy lengths and stopping the clock in 1:16.10 for 6 1/2 furlongs — on a sloppy track, yet.

“He could be a good one”, says trainer Condilenios (and many others). No kidding.

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What do you think?

  1. This little guy could be anything as Alvardo broke hims sharply, then put on cruise control…After an modest opening quarter in 23.06, this little guy realed off a 22.61 to blow away the field.

    — Monarchos · Jun 2, 09:13 AM · #

  2. The other good one, Lowthier Street, ran well but appears to be a better router than a sprinter.

    — Monarchos · Jun 7, 02:11 PM · #

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