Folk As Queen

- A few people have written in about Folk, the Darley filly who will take on the boys in the UAE Derby on Saturday. I first mentioned her in this post, and mistakenly so, as the PP's on Formulator hadn't picked up her Dubai races, and I thought that she hadn't raced since winning by ten at the Big A in November. Guess I'm delinquent in following the Dubai Carnival, as I was quickly corrected; she's run not once, but twice since than, in the UAE One Thousand Guineas and the UAE Oaks, both against fillies. Although this is a sizeable step up in class, note that her times for both classics are comparable to those posted by Asiatic Boy [BRIS], who may be the favorite in Saturday's race.

But as far as her taking on the boys in the Kentucky Derby, Godolphin's Simon Crisford told Bloodhorse that she's not being pointed for the Kentucky Derby, but rather for the Oaks. Crisford added that the fillies weren't enough competition for Folk, and that she has a big weight advantage against the boys.

"Not only does she have the fillies' allowance, but she gets the Northern Hemisphere allowance against the Southern Hemisphere horses as well. She's got a 13lb weight pull and that puts her right in the picture.

"She's a strong, big, powerful filly. She has the right disposition and constitution and we're looking forward to seeing her run against better quality horses." [Sporting Life UK]

Folk is by Quiet American, who stands for Darley at $20,000 per shot. Her half-sister, Danuta (Sunday Silence), took the UAE Oaks in 2002. Her second dam is Eugene Klein's champion two-year old Family Style, and this is the distaff family of familiar names such as the current campaigner West Virginia, Belmont winner Editor's Note, and stallions Hold That Tiger, Hennessy, and Talk Is Money, the sire of Ann Coulter.

- Frankie Dettori, who will be aboard Discreet Cat in the World Cup on Saturday, paid a visit to the barn of Kiaran McLaughlin to check out Invasor.

The jovial McLaughlin, who knows Dettori well since both have spent many winters racing in Dubai with the Maktoum family, told the jockey that he better take a close look at Invasor’s head.

After all, McLaughlin asserted with a big smile, the only part of Invasor that Dettori will be seeing in the Dubai World Cup is his long black tail.

Onlookers reported that the usually glib Dettori had no immediate comeback. [Dubai Racing Club Blog]

Discreet Cat drew the rail, and Invasor the outside seven post for the World Cup. "It wasn't a big concern, but the interesting thing was the 1 hole," said Invasor's trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. "Neither one of us wanted it, they got it." [DRF]

The draw was held Wednesday evening at the Johara Ballroom of the Madinat Jumeirah Souk, a large, lavishly appointed convention and meeting center located on Jumeirah Beach adjacent to the Burj Al Arab, which bills itself as the world's only seven-star hotel.

That comes out to about one star for each dollar paid per day to the migrant workers who built it.