Bin Ghadayer delighted with Rawy's performance at Meydan

Rawy, ridden by Mickael Barzalona, sprints to victory. (Picture courtesy ERA)

Bin Ghadayer's American acquisition Rawy outclassed his six rivals to win the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial in breathtakingly fashion at Meydan

By Team KT

Published: Sat 22 Jan 2022, 7:21 PM

Emirati handler Salem Bin Ghadayer was delighted after Rawy delivered the performance of the day on week two of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Bin Ghadayer’s American acquisition Rawy outclassed his six rivals to win the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial in breathtakingly fashion at Meydan on Friday night.

A smart purchase from the 2020 Bluewater Sales in Lexington, the fleet-footed three-year-old son of Grade 1 winning Darley stallion Frosted, broke well under French ace Mickael Barzalona and quickly assumed control of the contest.

At no point did he look like relenting, pulling clear at the 500 metre mark before excelling himself to cross the line two lengths clear of Uruguay’s last-outing Meydan scorer, Quality Boone.

“Since we bought him from the United States, he showed ability. To continue to think about the 2000 Guineas we knew we must run him tonight to see where we are. He proved he has class today, we are happy,” Bin Ghadayer said.

“I don’t think the mile (in the Guineas) will be too much of an issue. He has speed but he also has the stamina to make the mile, he’s a horse with a good temperament. He’s very lovely. Everything goes easy with him.”

Meanwhile, Team Godolphin won five of the seven races on a classy night’s action at Meydan Racecourse on Friday.

Not surprisingly, four wins came on the turf and were headed by a sweep of the twin Group 2 feature races — the 1800m Al Rashidiya with Desert Fire and the 1400m Al Fahidi Fort courtesy Naval Crown.

The former was trained by eight-time Carnival champion Saeed bin Suroor, who would go on to complete a three-timer, while Naval Crown raced out of Epsom Derby and Melbourne Cup-winning handler, Charlie Appleby’s desert stables in Marmoom.

Reigning UAE champion trainer Doug Watson quite expectedly picked up the 1200m Dubawi Stakes with in-form sprinter, Al Tariq.

Earlier in the evening, Appleby got the proceedings off to a positive start when he sent out international favourite Silent Speech to secure a two-length victory in the Dubai Trophy over six furlongs before his Godolphin teammate, Bin Suroor unearthed an exciting talent in the form of Island Falcon, a gritty length and a half winner over fancied New Kingdom in the first running of the 1800m Jumeirah Derby.