Kieren Fallon to ride Gitano Hernando in English seasonal bow

KIEREN FALLON TO RIDE GITANO HERNANDO IN ENGLISH SEASONAL BOW,
JOCKEY WILL FLY FROM DUBAI TO PILOT 4YO COLT IN LINGFIELD STAKES,
ALL-WEATHER EVENT WILL SERVE AS LONE PREP FOR DUBAI WORLD CUP

Kieren Fallon, who is currently plying his trade in the United Arab Emirates, will return to England to ride Gitano Hernando on February 27 in the Winter Derby Trial. The last time Fallon was aboard the colt he rode him to an upset victory in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita’s Oak Tree meeting.

Following the win over some of North America’s top seasoned horses and the Kentucky Derby hero Mine That Bird, connections of the colt decided to skip the Breeders’ Cup Classic, allow him to recover from a hard race and prepare him for an assault at the brand new Meydan race course.



Marco Botti trains Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s 4-year-old son of Hernando at his stable in Newmarket and he plans to use the Derby Trial as his lone prep for the chestnut in advance of the $10-million Dubai World Cup, which is exactly a month after the Lingfield race. The Derby trial will be run over the same 10-furlong distance of the Grade 1 extravaganza in the desert.

“Kieren is important to have in this race,” said Botti. “He knows the colt, he knows how to ride him and he can tell us where we stand with him in his training. So far, even though the weather has been a bit of a challenge, the colt has not missed any training. He looks and feels good, so we are excited about using the race at Lingfield as his prep for the World Cup.”

Botti confirmed he will have Gitano Hernando arrive only days in advance of the March 27 race in the U. A. E., employing the same strategy that was successful with the colt prior to winning the Goodwood in Southern California.



On the recently released world rankings, Gitano Hernando was rated at 120, behind only Summer Bird (123), Mine That Bird (122), Courageous Cat (122) and Musket Man (121) among 3-year-old runners last season in the United States, based on his Goodwood effort.

Timeform rated Gitano Hernando at 124 last season, two pounds below Summer Bird and a pound below Mine That Bird.

GITANO HERNANDO GETTING READY FOR WORLD CUP PREP AT LINGFIELD,
TRAINER MARCO BOTTI REVEALS MESA MARAUDER WILL ACT AS RABBIT,
WINTER DERBY TRIAL SET TO BE RENEWED FEBRUARY 27 IN ALL WEATHER

Gitano Hernando is well into the thick of his preparation for a tilt at the richest horse race the world has ever known. While the $10 million Dubai World Cup is 43 days away, Gitano is just 16 days away from his initial step on the road towards Meydan Racecourse.

First stop: Lingfield Racecourse, the Winter Derby Trial, February 27,10 furlongs Polytrack, which will serve as Gitano’s launching pad en route to landing in a starting stall for the World Cup on March 27.

If all goes well at Lingfield, Marco Botti will employ the same scheduled for Gitano Hernando that he just devised for his 4-year-old filly Soneva, which was sent from Botti’s Green Ridge Stable base at Newmarket, England to Meydan race course in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates just a few days prior to upsetting the Grade 3 Cape Verdi Stakes.

“It is based on how we traveled Gitano Hernando to California for the Grade 1 Goodwood,” he said.

Yesterday, in an interview in London’s Daily Mail, trainer Marco Botti revealed for the first time in the press that Gitano Hernando would have a pacesetter in Mesa Marauder. MORE