Triple Crown nominees Six Speed, Salloom catch the eye in Dubai

Feb 08, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Six Speed wins the UAE 2000 Guineas

Six Speed, shown winning the UAE 2000 Guineas, is pointing for the UAE Derby (Photo by Dubai Racing Club)

The Kentucky Derby (G1) continues to have appeal on the world stage, with nearly four dozen international horses nominated to the 2026 Triple Crown. While Japan boasts the most nominees from abroad, four horses based in Dubai and three in Europe are also nominated to this year’s U.S. classics.

A few of those have already scored points on the Euro/Mideast Road, notably recent UAE 2000 Guineas (G3) winner Six Speed. His trainer, Bhupat Seemar, has another top prospect in Salloom, who is penciled in for the Feb. 20 Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby S. If Salloom passes that test, he could join Six Speed in the March 28 UAE Derby (G2), the grand finale of the Euro/Mideast Road.

Seemar is also responsible for the other two Dubai-trained Triple Crown nominees, Lino Padrino and Omaha Front, both owned by Suited & Booted – My Future Champions Racing. Like Six Speed and Salloom, Lino Padrino and Omaha Front are U.S. expats who were sold to their connections at two-year-olds in training sales.

The three European nominees represent rival global empires Godolphin and Coolmore. Irish maestro Aidan O’Brien has Coolmore’s duo of Puerto Rico and Dorset, while Godolphin’s Guildmaster is trained by John and Thady Gosden in England.

Puerto Rico is the only one of the European trio with experience on the Euro/Mideast Road, having won the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1) last October. But their plans will become clearer in the coming month.

Let’s take a closer look at the nominees in Dubai and Europe.

Six Speed (Dubai) – 20 points on Euro/Mideast Road

A son of red-hot sire Not This Time, Six Speed was bred by KatieRich Farms in Kentucky. He is out of the stakes-placed Browse, a Medaglia d’Oro mare from the stellar family of 2010 Kentucky Derby victor Super Saver.

Seemar purchased Six Speed for about $304,680 at the famed British sales company, Tattersalls, and brought him to Dubai. After a brilliant display in a “trial,” a practice race, Six Speed broke poorly in his first official start and wound up third. But he’s done everything right since, racking up three straight wins at Meydan.

Six Speed was acquired privately by an American ownership group – Brunetti Dugan Stables, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Steve Adkisson, and Swinbank Stables – just prior to his victory in the UAE 2000 Guineas. He scored 20 points to jump up to the top of the Euro/Mideast leaderboard, ranking first among those nominated to the Triple Crown.

Salloom (Dubai) – Smashing debut winner in fast time

By 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) champion Authentic, Salloom was bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall. His dam (mother), Rumandice, is by the A.P. Indy stallion Congrats. That makes Salloom a close relative of last year’s Wood Memorial (G2) winner, Rodriguez.

A $600,000 OBS March juvenile, Salloom was set to debut on the Dec. 19 “Festive Friday” card at Meydan. But he got upset in the starting gate and had to be a last-minute scratch. Salloom was on his best behavior back at Meydan on Jan. 30, when he romped by 6 3/4 lengths in strong time for 1600 meters (a “metric mile”). The bay has potential star quality for his Saudi owners, the “White Stables” of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and sons.

Lino Padrino (Dubai) – 4 points on Euro/Mideast Road

New Jersey-bred Lino Padrino has finished fourth behind stablemate Six Speed in his past two, including the UAE 2000 Guineas. But he’s had tough trips on both occasions – a bad start in one and the far outside post 16 in the other – and a smoother passage can help.

The $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic purchase flashed talent earlier in the season at Meydan, impressing in a trial and immediately following up with a four-length win on his official debut.

Lino Padrino’s name reflects his pedigree. Bred by Gina Lupton and Kelly Lupton, he’s by Uncle Lino and out of a mare by El Padrino. Those stallions might not be household names, but they’re sons of Uncle Mo and Pulpit.

Omaha Front (Dubai) – Two-time winner at Jebel Ali

As his name implies, Omaha Front is by the successful young sire Omaha Beach. His mother is stakes-placed Precious Stone, an Irish-bred daughter of supersire Galileo.

Bred by Don Alberto Corp. in Kentucky, Omaha Front was bought by Seemar for about $134,986 at the Arqana Breeze Up Sale in France. He took longer to break through than his stablemates, but Omaha Front has won two in a row powering up the hill at Jebel Ali.

Puerto Rico (Europe) – 10 points on Euro/Mideast Road

Although O’Brien nominated Puerto Rico to the Triple Crown, and made him eligible for the UAE Derby, chances are that he’ll stick to the European turf rather than experiment with dirt. That would make sense for a colt who won three straight majors on turf to conclude his juvenile campaign – the Champagne (G2) at Doncaster, the Lagardere, and the Criterium International (G1).

In a recent interview, O’Brien said that Dubai would “probably come too early” in the year for Puerto Rico, and he mentioned a couple of mile classics (“Guineas”) closer to home. If Puerto Rico turns up anywhere on the first Saturday in May, it would be the 2000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket. His other classic target could be the French equivalent, the May 10 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1), over the same course as his Lagardere victory.

Dorset (Europe) – Perhaps one for the Patton at Dundalk?

Dorset, another UAE Derby nominee, is bred along the same lines as stablemate Puerto Rico. Both are by the outstanding stallion Wootton Bassett and out of well-related Galileo mares. Also like Puerto Rico, Dorset improved by the end of his two-year-old season, when he scored his marquee wins.

But Dorset’s victories didn’t come at as high a level as Puerto Rico’s. He scooped up a lucrative race restricted to sales graduates, the Goffs Million, and added the Killavullan (G3) at Leopardstown.

Because other O’Brien pupils have stronger European classic credentials, perhaps Dorset could be open to more adventurous options. Then again, you can never tell how much a youngster can change and develop under O’Brien’s tutelage at Ballydoyle, and Dorset still holds Irish classic entries himself.

We’ll know more if Dorset contests the March 6 Patton on the Euro/Mideast Road at Dundalk, historically O’Brien’s springboard to the UAE Derby.

Guildmaster (Europe) – One to watch for Godolphin

Guildmaster was not made eligible for the UAE Derby, implying that the Gosdens and the Godolphin brain trust don’t see him as immediately ready for an international target.

Indeed, the Irish-bred looked like a raw, green recruit in his Dec. 22 unveiling on the synthetic Polytrack at Lingfield. Guildmaster won well in the end anyway, but he’ll need more time and racing experience to reach his full potential. He could be the type for the Kempton scoring race dubbed the Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions race on Feb. 25, mainly because it would be a similar mile affair on Polytrack.

Purchased for about $437,024 as a Tattersalls October yearling, Guildmaster is a full brother to Group 1 hero Gear Up and Group 3 winner Guaranteed.

Guildmaster was bred by the terrific horseman Jim Bolger, who trained his sire, unbeaten champion Teofilo. There are dirt influences on the maternal side of Guildmaster’s pedigree. His dam, Gearanai, is by the multiple Grade 1-winning Toccet (by Awesome Again), and she descends from millionaire Dispute, whose four Grade 1 titles include the 1993 Kentucky Oaks.

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