Barry Hills Heaps Praise on Redwood

One of the contendes vying for Dubai World Cup glory is the globetrotting, though slightly under-rated, contender Redwood (High Chaparral). Currently priced as short as 8/1 for the world’s richest race, Redwood is set for a seasonal debut after putting in a very credible performance to finish second in the high-class Hong Kong Vase.

After capturing the Group 2 Prince of Wales’ Stakes at Ascot, the Juddmonte five year-old set off on an international tour that saw him place in the Group 2 Grand Prix De Deauville and capture the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes at Woodbine. He also hit the board in the Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International a month later at the Toronto racecourse.

Shipping over for a Meydan debut didn’t take much out of the brown horse as he is accustomed to travelling even longer distances. Barry Hills spoke to the Racing Post and played up Redwood’s chances, “He has travelled well… I don’t think he has ever produced what he is capable of as he has never had a strong gallop.”

Hills went on to point to the strong early pace, likely to be set by Cape Blanco (Galileo) or some of the longer-odds contenders.

Redwood has been laid off since the run at Sha Tin back in mid-December and has not had a prep race ahead of the Dubai World Cup. He has only failed to hit the board three times in a twelve race career. He was heavily-campaigned throughout 2010 running a total of nine times on three differet continents.