Filly will be the first US runner for trainer Salem Bin Ghadayer
Mimi Kakushi aims to break new ground on the first weekend of May when she carries the hopes of Dubai in the G1 Kentucky Oaks.
Trained in Dubai by Salem Bin Ghadayer, the daughter of City Of Light bids to follow up her G3 UAE Oaks win at Meydan Racecourse with success in the Run For The Lilies on May 5th. Shahama, winner of the same UAE Classic in 2022, went on to run sixth at Churchill Downs after transferring to the Todd Pletcher barn.
There’s no connection switch for Mimi Kakushi, who is owned by Dubai’s Crown Prince, HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, son of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
“Mimi Kakushi left Dubai on Wednesday morning [April 19th] and flies to Chicago,” said Bin Ghadayer, for whom this is a first runner outside of the Middle East. “She spends 48 hours in quarantine there and then vans to Churchill Downs where she’ll just walk for the first day. She won’t be on the track before Monday [April 24th].”
Bin Ghadayer, who flies to the States on Saturday, is keeping the team around his star filly the same as she is used to at home. Dubai World Cup-winning rider Mickael Barzalona keeps the ride and Xavier Ziani, a French jockey based in Dubai who was onboard the filly for her debut, partners her in the mornings.
