Kentucky-bred Tuz stormed home a dominant winner of the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) at Meydan on the undercard of the Dubai World Cup program on Saturday, March 30.
Ridden by Tadhg O’Shea, Tuz pushed through along the inside rail in the stretch of the Golden Shaheen. He drew clear late to win by a record 6 ½ lengths in the end. Owned by Dakki Stable and trained by Bhupat Seemar, Tuz has now banked more than $1.5 million.
A $7,000 Keeneland September Sale graduate for Oracle Bloodstock in 2018, Tuz is now a winner in six of 19 starts. Earlier this year, he captured the Dubawi Stakes (G3) at Meydan in January. He entered the Golden Shaheen off a 10th-place finish in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia in February.
“He’s got so much natural speed, his weapon is his speed,” said winning trainer Bhupat Seemar, who won the race last year with Kentucky-bred Switzerland. “He’s always been a fast horse, and it’s like Switzerland—he ran poorly in Saudi and then won the Shaheen. Sprinters mature and they know what to do. I had some confidence.”
Winning jockey O’Shea said, “He’s very fast. He had to be good and tough. There wasn’t much room to maneuver down the inside. But I had a good, willing partner. He’s a big horse. When he straightened up, he went through the eye of a needle. He’s a high-class horse, and when he gets the rail to shoot at, he’s very, very, very good.”
Tuz, who began his racing career in Russia in 2019, is by Oxbow out of the winning Pulpit mare Suede Shoe. The multiple graded stakes winner was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm.