DUBAI RACING CARNIVAL adiyat racing plus.com 19 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 838 Thursday 21 st March 2024 bang, but this time he was close to the pace and was still able to quicken, which was great. “It was another side we saw of Fort Payne, which bodes well for his future races.” Indeed, but it is his future which is slightly in doubt, at least regarding a possible start on Dubai World Cup night and his trainer explains: “We have a bit of a dilemma. When he made his seasonal reappearance on the dirt he wasn’t ready and didn’t really understand what he needed to do on the dirt, so his rating was lowered from 106 to 102. “In Abu Dhabi, he was the runner-up and remained on 102. He then won the Ras Al Khor and still his rating remained on 102, which I don’t understand. I was told that he didn’t beat the best horses, but I did beat those who were rated 106 and 107. It’s true that they finished further back in the field, and it was the lower rated horses who finished just behind him, but what more can he do but beat what is there?” The French trainer, who is a huge supporter of the Dubai Carnival is slightly frustrated but concludes: “Fort Payne was always the horse I fancied to do well in Dubai. Him and King Gold. And he didn’t disappoint. Going home with a victory is already a huge plus. “Having said that, King Gold obviously ran in Riyadh where he was invited and if I had known that the race was going to turn out as it did, with him getting knocked the whole way with not a breather in between, we would have looked at other options. Anyway, King Gold is entered in the Al Quoz, but we shall see. There are other options like the Golden Mile, but it will be better for him to stay on the turf. And with Fort Payne we just have to see.” In any case, Nicolas’ and Marine’s Dubai adventure is not over yet and he still harbours the hope that Fort Payne will make the cut for the Dubai Turf, which is the race he would really like to see him compete in. However, even if it didn’t happen, he already knows he will be back for more next year. Fort Payne
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