LONDON: British trainer Jamie Osborne is eying another victory in the Group 2 UAE Derby as he prepares Heart Of Honor for the prestigious $1,000,000 race on Dubai World Cup night on Saturday.

The Lambourn-based handler, who memorably won the contest with Toast Of New York in 2014, is hoping his latest contender can emulate that success.

Osborne’s charge has been a regular feature at Meydan throughout the Dubai Racing Carnival, notching two victories before narrowly missing out in his last two outings.

The David Redvers-bred colt, from Tweenhills in Gloucestershire, will head into the race with a tactical change — he will wear blinkers for the first time in a bid to sharpen his performance.

Adding to the family affair, Heart Of Honor will be partnered by Osborne’s daughter, Saffie Osborne, in the high-profile event.

Speaking to Great British Racing International, Osborne detailed his hopes for Heart Of Honor’s performance.

“Heart Of Honor won his first two races in Dubai and was not disgraced in defeat in his last two races. I think there were factors involved in his last defeat and I don’t think he was at his best. We learned a lot about him,” he said.

“I think he just needs to be sharper through the gate and sharper through the first half of his races, and the application of blinkers is to help him with that. We have got him in a better place now than we got him before the Al-Bastakiya. We are hopeful that he will run his best race next Saturday.

“It’s great for the owners, who have trusted me to do this. The plan when we bought him was always to bring him to Dubai for a Middle Eastern winter campaign with the hope that he would make it to the derby. Thankfully this plan has worked out so far, but we have got one more mission to accomplish,” Osborne added.

Osborne remains the only British trainer to have won the UAE Derby, and he reflected on Toast Of New York’s success a decade ago.

“(That) win is something that I look back on with pride, and getting the opportunity to do it again this year with Heart Of Honor is special. It’s even more special to get to do it with Saffie on board,” he said.

“When Toast Of New York won it, she was 11 years old and was screaming at the television at home. When we arrived home from Dubai, she had made all the banners for his stable and was very excited, so it’s thrilling to get the chance to do it again with her,” he added.

Osborne has been a regular competitor in Dubai in recent years, sending a steady stream of runners to the Middle East and picking up notable victories with horses such as Cliffs Of Capri and Ouzo.

He also landed the Dukhan Sprint in Qatar in 2023 with Emaraaty Ana, placed fourth in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup in 2022 with Alignak and finished runner-up on Saudi Cup night in 2020 with Mekong.

Osborne said he was enthusiastic about competing in the region.

“Personally, I enjoy coming to race in Dubai and the Middle East during the British off-season, and my clients enjoy racing their horses here, too,” he said.

“We’ve had a good year this year in Dubai, and my horses have won plenty of prize money finishing placed in big races. We look forward to coming back again next year as it works well before our racing starts here in the UK.”

LOS ANGELES: South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim rolled in a six-foot birdie putt at the first playoff hole to win the LPGA Ford Championship on Sunday ahead of American Lilia Vu.

Kim had nine birdies in her 8-under par 64, the lowest round of the day at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, taking her to a 22-under total of 266.

Overnight leader Vu carded a four-under-par 68, but when they returned to the par-four 18th for the playoff Kim put her approach six feet from the pin while Vu left herself more than 15 feet.

The American’s putt came up short and Kim sank hers to claim her seventh LPGA victory, and her first since 2023.

“So it’s been a while since I had any wins so I was getting a little bit stressed,” the 29-year-old Kim admitted.

“But I did work out a lot during the winter time so now that I have a win I’m a little bit lighthearted.”

“The feeling was great today,” said Kim, who needed just 24 putts. “I just thought one birdie at a time.”

Having started the day four shots off Vu’s lead, Kim had seven birdies in the first 11 holes to seize the solo lead on 21-under.

However, she found the water off the tee at 12 on the way to a bogey, missing a short par save attempt.

Kim then drained a birdie putt from off the green at 16 and added another birdie at 17 to land in the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead.

But Vu got up and down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 17th, blasting out of the sand to about a foot.

Vu, who had endured a long wait for the green to clear at 17 had another tense delay on the 18th tee as Nanna Koerstz Madsen searched for her ball in the desert scrub.

Vu’s second shot bounded through the green but the two-time major winner and former world number one chipped to about six feet and holed the par putt to force a playoff.

Kim had been waiting and watching as Vu finished her round.

“I kept on thinking we might go on a playoff, so I kept stretching,” she said. “I thought I would be very nervous, but I really wasn’t.”

Vu, who missed three months last year with a back injury that still troubles her, was pleased with her week, despite the playoff disappointment.

“I’m proud that I kind of stuck to my goal, my weekly goal. The only goal is to be in tune with my body,” she said.

“This is probably the most I’ve felt like me in the past year and a half.”

American Allizen Corpuz, the 2023 US Women’s Open champion, thrust herself into contention with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 but had to settle for third on 267.

World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand was in the hunt, sharing the lead after her sixth birdie of the day on 13.

But the birdies dried up and her six-under 66 left her alone in fourth on 268.