Hugo Palmer considering Breeders’ Cup for Dewhurst second

Keith Hamer
October 12, 2021 9:57 am

Trainer has always held him in high regard.

Dubawi Legend put himself in line for a possible crack at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf thanks to a tremendous run in the Dewhurst Stakes.

Hugo Palmer’s unquestionable faith in the two-year-old colt was justified when he was a gallant second to the unbeaten Native Trail in the Newmarket Group One.

Palmer feels a trip to America will be the making of Dubawi Legend after enduring a stop-start season on home soil.

The Newmarket handler only got him to the track in July where he bolted up at Doncaster. He was a big disappointment to connections in the Acomb Stakes at York but was found not to be 100 per cent afterwards. He then missed the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster due to a bad scope.

👌 Four from four 🏆 Two-time Group 1 winner
The exciting Native Trail lands the Darley Dewhurst Stakes for William Buick, Charlie Appleby and @godolphin @NewmarketRace pic.twitter.com/M0in8maJzl

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 9, 2021

Dubawi Legend put all those issues behind him with a top-notch performance that has Palmer excited about the future.

“He’s come out of the race great. He ran an absolute blinder. He showed the world what we have always thought of him, that he is a two-year-old out of the very top drawer,” he said.

“We’ve been excited about him for a long time and it was great he came and did that. It sucks being second, you’re the first loser, and on some ratings he’s the third best two-year-old in Europe.

“We’re very excited about him. I’m not saying we could have beaten the winner but it was only the third run of his career and if we’d have managed to get him to the Champagne – he had a bad scope the morning of declaration – I think he proved he’d have won that.”

He went on: “He beat the Champagne winner (Bayside Boy) on Saturday. With the Champagne under his belt he might have been closer to Native Trail. Who knows? But he’s a very exciting horse going forward.

“At the moment we are planning as if we are going to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He’s going to need to be in top order for us to do that but he’s come out of the race phenomenally well.

“He actually put on two kilogrammes for the run. He’s a lightly-raced horse and he’s had plenty of breaks through the season.

“The 2000 Guineas is a proper hustle and bustle race. I think the trip to Del Mar will really make him grow up.”