Ruling Court Pointing To Jumeirah 2000 Guineas In March
Yesterday at 12:48 PM
Godolphin's Ruling Court (Justify), third in the G3 Acomb Stakes to The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), will point to the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas on Super Saturday in March, according to trainer Charlie Appleby.
A five-length maiden winner at first asking at Sandown in July, the bay colt was a €2.3-million Arqana May Breeze-Up graduate. Ruling Court has been training toward his 3-year-old bow in Dubai.
“He's done very well,” said Appleby of his high-profile charge. “He was a breeze-up horse so we gave him a bit of time before he ran in his Sandown maiden and he did what he did.
“It was always our target to look towards the Acomb, and full credit to the race planning team with the conditions of the race changing – that race will only get better year on year.
“What we saw with Aidan's horse winning [The Lion In Winter], James Owen's horse in second [Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko)] who went on and progressed throughout the season. We felt that was the strongest juvenile race of the season until the Dewhurst.”
Added the trainer of his 'TDN Rising Star', “He's done well out in Dubai. We felt that the training conditions out there would suit him and he's on target to run in the (Jumeirah) 2000 Guineas on Super Saturday [Mar. 5]. We could potentially look at the 2000 Guineas nearer the time. I think he will stretch out beyond a mile, so it's whether we look at him as a Guineas horse or a [G2] Dante horse after his run at Meydan.”
Appleby, who is known for his potency with his North American raiders, also had an update regarding the rest of his 2025 team.
“We campaigned our horses as we did last year, and I was quite open about it, to give ourselves the best chance to win graded races,” he said. “With the 3-year-olds that we've got they will most definitely be campaigned in Europe, for sure.
“We were left with a hole a couple of years ago in our older horses, but this year hopefully the likes of Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who might start in something like the [G1] Lockinge [Stakes] and work towards the Queen Anne, and Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}), who will be looking at mile-and-a-half races, will fill the gap.
“You've got to have a good one to go and win them, you can't just turn up. I just felt we didn't have that, but hopefully this year we will have.”
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