The Dubai World Cup is beckoning for Al Shaqab’s Mshawish (Todd Pletcher/John Velazquez) after the six-year-old powered home for his first Grade 1 victory on dirt in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream.

Formerly trained in France, the son of Medaglia d’Oro had been campaigned on turf for much of his globe-trotting career and won the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on the same card 12 months previously.

However, Mshawish had shown his aptitude for dirt on a couple of previous outings before scoring by two lengths over front-running Valid to claim the $500,000 Donn – the race won by the great Cigar in 1996 before he won the inaugural Dubai World Cup. Captain Steve (2001) and Invasor (2007) also won here before claiming the world’s richest race.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said the plan for the winner was Meydan on March 26, with the World Cup looking a more likely target this time than the Dubai Turf (former Duty Free), in which he finished third to Solow in 2015.

“We’ll go to Dubai and make a decision but hopefully it will be the World Cup,” said Pletcher, who was winning his fifth Donn.
Racingpost.com
Picture: Mshawish (MiamiHerald.com)