TRAVELIN' MAN STEVENS IS ON THE ROAD TO DUBAI
For Gary Stevens, flying isn't a matter of do or Dubai.
Anyone who flies more than 130,000 miles a year, as the jockey did in 1995, if far from a white-knuckle traveler.
The native of Caldwell, Idaho, who was 33 on March 6, is adding about 25,000 miles to his frequent flyer log on a trip that takes him from California to Florida to Kentucky to New York to California to the Middle East and back to California.
"It's a very long trip," said Stevens, who first visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates three years ago. "Even though the track (Nad Al Sheba) was brand new that year, the facilities were unbelievable. The track surface was as good as I've ever ridden on, and we raced in the daytime then. Now, I understand, they've put lights in and have night racing."
Anyone who perceives the Dubai facility to be something out of Hope and Crosby's Road to Morocco has another perceive coming.
"Sheik Mohammed (Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, master of Darley Stud Management, Inc., and Godolphin Stables) has invested as much in this game as any person probably ever has in the history of thoroughbred racing, and he does everything first class, especially the race track," Stevens said. "Everyone he hires makes sure everything is first-class. It was obvious to me that they did a lot of research before they ever launched the new race track."
Stevens will have more to do with his free time than just visit the pyramids.
"I had talked to a few people who had been to Saudi Arabia, but no one that had ever been to Dubai," Stevens said. "So I didn't know what to expect. But it's very, very Westernized. There's plenty to do. They have gorgeous, white sand beaches; jet-skiing; sail-boarding; dune buggies out in the desert, all-terrain vehicles . . . they have fine shopping, great food and night clubs, too."
Stevens began his trek last Friday night when he departed for Florida to ride Editor's Note (a distant second behind Unbridled Song) in the Florida Derby on Saturday. Then it was back to Santa Anita to ride Prince of Thieves in the San Felipe Stakes on Sunday. He would ride at Santa Anita all week before leaving Sunday for Dubai to ride Soul of the Matter against Cigar in the $4 million World Cup on Wednesday (March 27).
"I arrive on Tuesday morning," Stevens said, "ride on Wednesday, leave Thursday morning, fly back to New York, take two days off in New York, then fly to Kentucky to ride Victory Speech in the Jim Beam (March 30 at Turfway Park), then I'll be back here for Sunday's races."
Stevens has his in-flight routine down to a science. "I travel very well. I watch some movies, get some sleep . . . this is a 23-hour trip, with a four-hour layover in London. before going the rest of the way to Dubai."
The horse that endures the 9,000-mile, one-way journey best could have an advantage.
"It's probably going to play into it," Stevens said, "but regardless of the results, I don't think anyone will know how much the travel actually had to do with the outcome of the race. Some horses do travel better than other horses, but no matter how badly they ship, I think the animals handle it better than we do. They seem to get very comfortable right away in the airplanes, and I think Dick (Mandella) is doing the right thing in taking them in as close to the race as he can.
"I think it would be a big mistake to go over there, say, two weeks before the race and expect them to acclimate. I know that I actually feel better sometimes when I take the Red-eye to ride a race that same day, rather than coming in two days before a race. The jet lag seems to really hit me hardest two days after the travel. I like to get in somewhere and ride and get right back out in my own time zone as quickly as possible."
His evaluation of Cigar: "He's the best of my era," said Stevens, who has been riding for 16 years. "He's the best I've seen since I've been riding. I wasn't around to see Secretariat or Spectacular Bid, or some of the other greats, although I've read a lot about them.
"Eddie Arcaro and I were on an interview together and he was saying that until Cigar really packs a lot of weight, he doesn't think he can be considered a great, great horse. He said in his mind, he is a great horse, but he doesn't think people can say that until he actually carries the weight and beats these horses the way they did in the old days.
"He's definitely the best I've seen in my era, but they're all beatable. I've never seen a horse that's invincible. Given time and the right circumstances and the right horse, they can all get beat."
According to Mandella, getting to Dubai is half the fun.
"It's a lot longer trip than, say, to Bay Meadows, so it's got a lot to do with how the horse accepts it," said Mandella, who will take on Cigar with both Soul of the Matter and Dare and Go. "If they worry and fret over it, it's going to take a lot out of them. If they don't, then it shouldn't hurt 'em too bad.
"They are in an air-conditioned plane and are allowed to have food and water, so it's not like they're starving to death for all that time. It is first-class accommodations.
"Both my horses have traveled and traveled well, so I don't anticipate a problem. But it is a long way to go and you won't know until you get there."
Will Mandella's horses have an advantage over Cigar?
"We need a helluva an edge. Exactly what that will be, I don't know. I'll just have to hope for one."
Mandella has heard the sheiks are ultra chic when it comes to hosting their guests.
"Everything is first-class. Even the stables are air-conditioned. This is my first trip there, but everything I've been told about it is that there's none better. They've got the best of everything and I'm anxious to see it."
On conquering Cigar: "Soul of the Matter is as good as he can be, I believe, and that's pretty good."
GOLDEN PICKS
BIG SKY JIM -- Rejuvenated gelding couldn't free himself from traffic until it was too late and was beaten just a half-length as 11-10 favorite in 1 1/4 starter allowance. Better trip is all this one needs to find winners' circle.
PERFECT TIMING -- Bottom-rung claimer showed interest late at 9-1 despite breaking from No. 1 post position in 6 1/2-furlong race. No one was going to beat the 7-5 favorite, Green Phantom, who opened up five and won by 3 1/2, but 11-time winner Perfect Timing can overtake speedsters late from more advantageous slot.
THE HOMESTRETCH: Trainer Bob Baffert, who won three races last Friday, on his indecision on where to run Semoran next: "I'm like a woman. I change my mind every day." Semoran will run in the $300,000-guaranteed Remington Park Derby on Saturday. Russell Baze has the mount . . . Trainer Wesley Ward, the nation's top apprentice in 1984 when he won 335 races, reports his multiple stakes-winning turf star, Unfinished Symph, is due back at the track in about 45 days. "He's at Bradbury right
now," Ward said. "He's been out since last October when he suffered a splint injury to his
right front leg. It almost went into his suspensory, and he was running like that, but we
caught it in time." . . . Randy Bradshaw has parted company with Jeff Neilsen, owner of the Everest Stable's 1995 Louisiana Derby winner, Petionville. Petionville presently is turned out, waiting to get back to the races. Bradshaw is hopeful his Super Mining can enter the Triple Crown picture, even though he just broke his maiden. "It's not a question of running through conditions," Bradshaw said. "Sometimes the conditional races can be
tougher than the stakes. It's more important to find a race that will fit into the horse's
schedule." . . . Leading rider Corey Nakatani is serving his second five-day suspension
of the meet, Wednesday through Saturday.
The Running Horse (https://www.isd1.com/alauck)