GODOLPHIN BRANCH OUT Godolphin are to set up another "academy" for two-year-olds in the USA, it was reported today. The Thoroughbred Times website revealed that Sheikh Mohammed's ground-breaking operation is planning to have 32 juveniles based in America from April, with the 2001 Kentucky Derby as their ultimate aim. Last year Godolphin launched a similar two-year-old "nursery" at the former Evry racecourse in France, under the control of former British trainer David Loder. The team sent to the USA is likely to include a half-brother to 1999 champion two-year-old Fasliyev, bought for a record US3.9 million (£2.44 million) at Keeneland last September, and a half-brother to Dubai Millennium. Eoin Harty, overseeing the juveniles' early training in Dubai, said: "I think between Sheikh Mohammed and his committee that selects horses they came up with a plan of an American-type pedigree and suited to American racing, with the (Kentucky) Derby in mind. "It's definitely a great bunch. They'll be ready to race when we get there." It has not been announced where in the USA the team - billed as "Grandstand Stables" as they are currently housed in a barn overlooking the grandstand of Nad al Sheba racecourse - will be based. Sheikh Mohammed has long stressed Godolphin's worldwide ambitions and his operation has recently nominated 12 three-year-olds to this year's American triple crown races.
