The 2025 Grade 1 winner Lovesick Blues has been moved to Dubai for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Sprint on March 28 following a fifth-place finish in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14.
Lovesick Blues was beaten 5 1/4 lengths by the American-based Imagination in the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint at six furlongs, closing from the back of a field of 13. For the $2 million Golden Shaheen at six furlongs, trainer Librado Barocio hopes to employ a more forward strategy with Lovesick Blues.
“I think he was too far back,” Barocio said. “I’ll make an adjustment and we’ll be a little closer.”
An 8-year-old gelding, Lovesick Blues, acquired privately in late 2024 from breeder Nick Alexander, is best known for winning the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar last July, one of two stakes wins in the gelding’s 45-race career.
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Last fall, Lovesick Blues was second by a nose in the California Flag Handicap for California-breds at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita, and sixth by seven lengths behind Bentornato in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.
Bentornato, trained in Florida by Jose D’Angelo, is expected to lead the Golden Shaheen field. Imagination, trained by Bob Baffert, was sent back to the United States.
Lovesick Blues, owned by the Barocio family’s Mia Familia Stable, is among three finalists for the 2025 California-bred Horse of the Year award, along with the filly Om N Joy and the older horse Man O Rose. The award will be announced on March 2.
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