Got a 3-year-old and $600?

The eyes of Thoroughbred racing fans and officials will likely be turning to the east – way to the east – as the 2009 Triple Crown season opens.

The reason? Two of 2008’s major 2-year-old winners – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion Midshipman and double New York winner Vineyard Haven – will be preparing for the Triple Crown races in Dubai under the watchful eye of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum and his Godolphin Racing’s trainer, Saeed bin Suroor. This outstanding pair of runners could bring Sheikh Mohammed’s long-held dream of producing a Kentucky Derby winner from the sands of his native country to fruition.

Sheikh Mohammed bought Vineyard Haven in November for an undisclosed price from Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel, who owned the colt in partnership with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre and Louis Lazzinnaro. The son of Chilean-bred Lido Palace won Saratoga’s Hopeful and Belmont Park’s Champagne, both Grade I stakes, prior to the sale. The colt bypassed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after a testing campaign that saw him finish third in the Grade II Sanford Stakes before his two stakes wins.
Midshipman came to Godolphin Racing as part of the purchase by Sheikh Mohammed of Stonerside Stable in October, just before the Breeders’ Cup Championship days at Oak Tree at Santa Anita. The victory in the Juvenile made Midshipman a double Grade I winner, also, having won the Del Mar Futurity in September for trainer Bob Baffert. He finished second in the Grade I Norfolk prior to the Juvenile, and left the Baffert barn for training in Dubai following the Breeders’ Cup.

With all that being said, Triple Crown Productions Executive Vice President Edward P. Seigenfeld expects another rousing round of nominations to the 2009 Triple Crown races as nominations packages are sent to owners and trainers both nationally and internationally. Triple Crown Productions representatives will be on the grounds of a number of racetracks during January in California, Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas to take nominations. The early nomination period – when horses can be nominated for $600 each – closes on Saturday, January 24. A late nomination period – with a $6,000 per horse fee – will close on Saturday, March 28.

Other Grade I juvenile winners include Square Eddie in Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity, Pioneerof the Nile in Hollywood Park’s Futurity and Street Hero in the Norfolk. Unfortunately, Street Hero came out of a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with an injury that sent him into retirement and stud duty in 2009.

Among juvenile fillies, the standout is Stardom Bound, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, as well as the Del Mar Debutante and Oak Leaf Breeders’ Cup Stakes, also Grade I efforts. She was sold following the Breeders’ Cup to IEAH Stables and will train in Southern California under the eye of Frankel. Whether she will be a Triple Crown nominee remains to be seen. Other Grade I winners among the distaffers include Mani Bhavan, Saratoga’s Spinaway Stakes; Dream Empress, Keeneland’s Alcibiades; Sky Diva, Belmont Park’s Frizette, and Laragh, Hollywood Starlet at Hollywood Park. -- TRIPLE CROWN PRODUCTIONS