By Mike Curry

Better Talk Now has led his connections across the globe and back again. In March, the nine-year-old Talkin Man gelding will have a chance to take owner Bushwood Stables and trainer Graham Motion on another long-distance thrill ride.

Motion confirmed on Wednesday that five-time Grade 1 winner Better Talk Now is on target for an expected start in the $5-million Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-G1) on March 29 at Nad al Sheba racecourse.

Better Talk Now completed a last-to-first rally to win the 2004 John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Lone Star Park by 1 3/4 lengths for owner Bushwood Stables—a partnership of Brent Johnson, Karl Barth, and Chris Dwyer. Purchased privately from breeder Wimborne Farm as a three-year-old, he has won 14 of 42 career starts amassed $4,054,288 in earnings.

“When it comes down to it, you can stay here and run in a Grade 2 for a quarter-of-a million [dollars] somewhere or you can go over there, which is the chance of a lifetime, and run for $5-million,” Motion said. “It’s kind of a no-brainer, really.

“It gets a little bit lost in our game that it is a sport, and these are sporting ventures. There’s nothing like the Breeders’ Cup because it’s an international event, and there’s nothing like these races in Dubai. They are what makes the game special.”

Better Talk Now finished second in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Turf and fourth in last year’s edition. He has won a Grade 1 race in three of the past four seasons.

Motion said Better Talk Now has traveled well in the past, which is always a concern considering the flight from Florida or New York to Dubai takes about 14 hours. Better Talk Now won a Grade 2 race in Canada in 2006 and had no problems traveling to Japan, where he was unplaced in the ‘05 Japan Cup (Jpn-G1).

“I find it a little bit hard to get too excited about these things until you’re almost ready to go, because so many things can go wrong between now and then,” Motion said. “But obviously we’ll be very excited to go, and it’s a tremendous opportunity. To be going with a horse that is doing well is a great opportunity, and he handled the trip to Japan really well so I guess it’s comparable in distance and nature.

“Everything since we won in Texas has been kind of gravy for us; he never had to do another thing after he won the Breeders’ Cup,” Motion added. “Everything has been a bonus since then. We all realize how lucky we are, and [his owners] do especially.

Last year, Better Talk Now won the Manhattan Stakes (G1) in four starts. A deep closer who benefits from a strong pace, Better Talk Now finished sixth in the Fair Grounds Handicap (G3) in his season debut on February 9. Motion said that performance did not discourage him from pointing Better Talk Now to Dubai.

“He seems to be doing great so we’re going to forge on with our plan,” Motion said. “You just don’t get chances to do things like this, and believe me, we wouldn’t be doing it if he wasn’t doing well.

“We just feel like the race in New Orleans was just question of getting a race into him. It didn’t exactly work out as we hoped, but at the end of the day we got a race into him, and we needed to do that before we went.”

Mike Curry is Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor