Flat Recruits - Salam Dubawi

We are heading into March and as a result, the Flat Turf season is looming into view. Clearly, this Blog and probably my own reputation within the industry has largely been formed around looking at the National Hunt recruits that are brought across from France, but there are also a significant number of Flat horses sold each year and on occasion, they can catch the eye. There won’t be as many, but I will try to cover a few on this blog where I think the horses are open to more improvement for the switch to British racing. I’ll begin with a new recruit for Jim Goldie, Salam Dubawi.

Salam Dubawi - 4YO Gelding

Dubawi x Palmarola (Sea the Stars)

Form: 34932461-

Trained by Andreas Schutz, Salam Dubawi did take 8 starts to get off the mark in France, but some of his earlier maiden form came behind pattern performers like Tito Mo Cen, Parachutiste and Trust On. He began his career racing over a 10-furlong trip but was dropped back to a mile for his last 5 starts, eventually winning a mile maiden at Compiegne in late September. His breeding would suggest that the longer trip would have been more suitable and my first reason for including him would be the obvious point that a well run race over that sort of trip ought to bring out more improvement. His dam is an unraced daughter of Sea the Stars, but she is a half-sister to several smart performers, most notably the Grand Prix de Chantilly winner Policy Maker. All of that led his previous connections to pay €220,000 as a Breeze-Up purchase at Arqana in 2024. He didn’t quite manage to repay that faith and he left France with an official rating of 37-kilos, the equivalent of 81 in the UK, but I think that underestimates his ability.

The race he won at Compiegne probably won’t live that long in the memory. He got the better of Jack O Damo in a driving finish to win by a neck. The runner-up was a travelling companion for some of the Japanese horses heading to the Arc and it is hard to weigh up what the form may be worth, especially as the race was run on heavy ground with a 5,0 reading on the penetrometer. However, having been given a superb ride by Cristian Demuro to get across to the favoured stands rail, he dropped to 5th place with 300m to run and looked set for another disappointing finish. However, he rallied extremely well in the testing conditions to recover the ground and ultimately ran the fastest final furlong in 13.63s to get his head in front at last. The handicapper didn’t react significantly to this win and returned him to his peak French rating of 37 kg, but a combination of the soft ground and the application of the  cheekpieces did seem to help his cause. This was the first time in his career that he had encountered genuinely soft conditions and I don’t think it is a coincidence that his best efforts in France came at Compiegne, where the stiff climb to the finish line helped him to stay in touch.

He has joined Jim Goldie for the Johnny Delta Racing Syndicate and will begin life in the UK on a what would look to be a very workable mark. I think we are likely to see the best of this horse when he gets a little bit of cut in the ground and a stiff finish to run at, perhaps somewhere like Hamilton Park or Carlisle may suit. He’s worthy of note and should be more than capable of winning races for his new connections as a 4-year-old.