Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Flood Zone will aim to take a circuitous route to this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) when he starts in the $1 million UAE Derby (G2) April 5 at Meydan in what his connections hope will be a prep for the United States classics.
In just his third overall start and his stakes debut, Flood Zone arrived on the Kentucky Derby scene with a 3 1/4-length victory—at odds of 17-1—in the one-turn mile Gotham Stakes March 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The impressive victory occurred after the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, privately purchased him via his Wathnan Racing banner after the Florida-bred's 5 1/4-length victory in the second start of his career, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race Jan. 4 at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Brad Cox said ownership wished to contest the UAE Derby, the top race for 3-year-olds in the Middle East, and Flood Zone shipped well ahead of Saturday's 1,900-meter (about 1 3/16-mile) test.
"The owners wanted to give it a shot and I'm all for it," Cox said on a recent BH Monday podcast. "The horse made it over there in great shape. I'm excited about this horse. He's unproven around two turns but he's given us every indication—has shown every sign in his last race and last work—that he'd stretch out. He's doing well."
As a son of 2015 Belmont Stakes (G1)-placed Frosted —Curls for Girls, by classic winner Curlin , Cox is confident Flood Zone will like the added distance and two turns. After the Gotham win, Wathnan Racing's American racing manager Case Clay said the impressive maiden win and the breeding were selling points in purchasing the talented 3-year-old.
Churchill Downs moved the UAE Derby this year from the main Road to the Derby points series to the Europe-Middle East points series. The top two finishers of the UAE Derby who also wish to race in the Kentucky Derby figure to have the points to qualify.
Flood Zone is rated at 108, the highest in the field. Jockey Florent Geroux is scheduled to pick up the mount on Flood Zone, who was bred by Al Figliolia Westburystables.
"Hopefully he runs well, comes out of it well, and we'll fly right back to Churchill," said Cox, who sent out Tappan Street to victory March 29 in the Florida Derby (G1).
For Saturday's test, Flood Zone drew post 5 in the field of nine, which includes UAE Oaks (G3) winner Queen Azteca, a daughter of Sharp Azteca bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm.
Two Japan-based colts in the field have earned the second-highest rating, at 107, in Saudi Derby (G3) runner-up Shin Forever, a son of Complexity bred in Kentucky by Bret Jones; and Don in the Mood, who enters off a third-place finish in the Hyacinth Stakes Feb. 23 at Tokyo Racecourse.
