Saeed bin Suroor secured a 1-2-3 with impressive winner of the Gr.3 Singspiel Stakes - Dream Castle who was ridden, with supreme confidence by Christophe Soumillon. After taking the lead, he quickened impressively and stayed in leadership position 400m out, finishing quickly with ease. Suroor’s Leshlaa and Racing History finished well in tandem chased home by Charlie Appleby’s Gr.1 winner Blair Castle.
The son of the great Frankel has now won both his starts since being gelded, having only tasted victory once before on debut.
Doyle mounted Gr.1 winner Blair House was slightly disappointing in fourth, considering excellent form in Australia in the autumn. The order of finish was completed by the Fawzi Nass-trained pair of Gr. 3 winner Euginio and Gr.1 Belmont Derby winner Deauville followed by First Contact, Bay of Poets and Arod.
“His performance today was lovely and he can be a horse for Godolphin for Dubai World Cup night, that is for sure,” said Soumillon of Dream Castle
Bin Suroor added: “It was good for (Dream Castle) today to run well again. He ran very well last time (winning the Gr.3 Singspiel on Jan. 3). The horse is doing very well and I like the way he finished his race. He was more relaxed today and showed a good turn of foot. He’s a good horse for the future. He does this when he works in the morning. Leshlaa and Racing History finished second and third—that’s good form today. Sheikh Mohammed will make the decision (on where he runs next).”
D’Bai confidently ridden by James Doyle for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby impressively won the US$250,000 Gr.2 Al Fahidi Fort. The son of Dubawi led home a 1-2-3 finish for the owner-trainer team with his 1¾-length stalk-and-pounce tally, with Mythical Magic finishing second under Colm O’Donoghue and Bravo Zolo in a dead-heat for third under Brett Doyle. Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ Sandeep Jadhav-trained Lansky, Mickael Barzalona aboard, was the other half of said tie for third.
Unfortunately, Group One winners Comin’ Through, a first Dubai runner for Australia-based conditioner Chris Waller, and South Africa’s Marinaresco failed to factor, finishing seventh and ninth. Top Score was fifth, Championship sixth and Another Batt eighth, while the order of finish astern Marinaresco was completed by Portamento, Janoobi, Degas and Intisaab.
Last year, the Al Fahidi Fort was won by the same connections with Jungle Cat, who subsequently went on to land the 1200m Gr.1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup card.
Appleby said: “This was (D’bai’s) first run and I was pleased with his preparation. Seven furlongs is probably his ultimate trip. We were confident coming in that he was fit and ready and this was a good trip to get him started. We could drop him back six furlongs, but he’s probably horse who will wind up going internationally again. He could just do one Dubai run and then look toward Europe and Australia.”
The inaugural US$100,000 Al Bastakiya Trial, a prep race over the same C&D as the Gr.2 UAE Derby and went to Manguzi under Fernando Jara for trainer Ali Rashid Al Rayhi and owner Ahmad Al Shaikh.
“He ran a good race,” Al Rayhi said. “He doesn’t like kickback, so I told Fernando to go to the front and stay in the inside three paths, then with two furlongs to go, to tell him to go and he did.”
Victory Command, 12½ lengths astern the runner-up – Estihdaaf under Christopher Soumillon, finished well for third under Royston Ffrench, while Argentine Group One winner Grecko, carrying a hefty penalty of 62kg—giving away between 4.5-7kg to his rivals—ran respectably in fourth under Pat Cosgrave.
“I’m very pleased with the run,” Ffrench said. “Obviously he wasn’t drawn very well (in post 13 of 14) and they did go quite quick. I was a little out-paced early, but he ran on strong and will improve for the run.”
Click here for Race Card Al Rashidiya 2019
Click here for Race Card Al Fahidi Fort 2019
Click here to Watch Race Al Rashidiya 2019
Click here to Watch Race Al Fahidi Fort 2019
Distance: 1,800 metres, Surface: Turf, Track: Left-handed,Purse: $200,000
Distance: 1,400 metres,Surface: Turf,Track: Left-handed,Purse: $250,000
Credit: Curated From News Release by Dubai Racing Club