Heart Of Honor just misses out in Dubai, but UAE Derby dream ‘still alive’

Jamie Osborne remains keen to target the UAE Derby with Heart Of Honor following his narrow defeat at Meydan on Friday.

Runner-up on his Southwell debut in the autumn, the son of Honor A.P. went one better with an impressive display on his Dubai debut in December and followed up early in the new year.

He was unable to reel in Golden Vekoma when bidding to complete his hat-trick in the UAE 2000 Guineas, but with a step up from a mile to an extended nine furlongs expected to suit, Heart Of Honor was a hot favourite to get back on the winning trail at Listed level in the Al Bastakiya.

With the trainer’s daughter Saffie Osborne taking over in the saddle from Adrie de Vries, the three-year-old looked to be struggling to keep up with the furious early pace and still had plenty of ground to make up on the leaders rounding the home turn.

However, Heart Of Honor really got rolling inside the final furlong and was only beaten a head by the winner Galactic Star at the line.

“What can you say? Clearly stamina is his strength,” said Osborne.

“I’d need to watch it back carefully. Saffie felt she got shuffled a little further back than ideal and in another two strides he would have won the race.”

While disappointed to be beaten, Osborne feels his charge merits a step up to Group Two level on Dubai World Cup night for a race the Lambourn handler memorably landed with his subsequent Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Toast Of New York 11 years ago.

He added: “It is disappointing to beaten, but he’s run his race and he’s not a forlorn UAE Derby hope on the back of that.

“We’ve got six weeks to work on him and he is a work in progress – he’s far from the finished article.

“I would like to think another six weeks will do him no harm and if we can just sharpen him up a little bit, and he can hold a better position in the UAE Derby, I don’t think you’d be committed to an asylum for thinking he is going to have a live chance.

“The dream is still alive. It’s disappointing to finish second in a Guineas and second in an Al Bastakiya and you could argue he was marginally unlucky in both races, but luck levels out over a period of time and maybe we’ve saved our good luck for the UAE Derby.”