Two-time San Diego H. (G2) winner CHOCTAW NATION (Louis Quatorze), who upset
Pleasantly Perfect in the 2004 edition of the San Diego, will make his next
start in the March 25 Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) and not the Godolphin Mile
(UAE-G2) as originally planned. The six-year-old was purchased privately by
Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum following his seventh-place finish in the
San Gabriel H. (G2) on New Year’s Day.
“I think the way the race was shaping up, he wanted to take a chance,”
trainer Jeff Mullins said of Choctaw Nation, who finished third in the 2005
World Cup. “And I can’t argue with the man…The horse has got plenty of class
and if we get second or third, it will be better than winning the Mile.”
The conditioner added that Choctaw Nation may return to California following
his trip to the desert. He was last seen taking a Santa Anita allowance by four
lengths on February 10.