Fans were left scratching their heads when Mumbai opted to take Bumrah out of the attack after he bowled the fourth over
The third meeting of the seventh running of the world’s richest racing festival attracted top international horses from around the globe to compete in the new All-Weather and turf tracks at the state-of-the-art facility.
The four-year-old daughter of Cherokee Run was always going well before the Frenchman said go in the home straight to catch early leader Synergy and hold on courageously under pressure close home.
“She is a nice filly who I used to ride in France. That was a nice performance,” said the French jockey Christophe Soumillon.
Hot favourite Zirconeum under Kevin She dropped back to finish three lengths off the pace in sixth place. The mile is apparently too short for the South African Grade-1 winner and will definitely look different at an extended distance. The second grass race, a 1600m handicap, was won in style by Snaafy under Richard Hills for trainer Musabah Al Muhairi. It was the horse’s first run since the 2009 Dubai World Cup and the horse could have a different big night target this year according to Hills: “He is a much improved horse and that gives us plenty of options. The 1800m of the Dubai Duty Free would really suit him.”
There was a double on the night for Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor with Ahmed Ajtebi in the saddle on both Allybar over 2000m and Anmar over 2200m. Both handicaps were run on the Tapeta.
Ajtebi said: “It has been a good night and it is great to ride my first Meydan winners.”
Also in double form was Doug Watson whose Force Freeze won the 1200m Tapeta conditions race under Tadhg O’Shea half an hour before stable companion Barbecue Eddie routed his opponents in a 1400m Tapeta handicap under an inspired ride by William Supple who made every yard of the running.
Watson said: “We thought both would run well and Force Freeze is a horse we really have high hopes of. Willie (Supple) has stolen that race on Barbecue – it was a great ride.”
Last year’s UAE 1000 Guineas heroine So Shiny landed the opening 1200m Tapeta handicap under Olivier Peslier who said: “She is a naturally speedy filly and battles hard.”
The concluding 1900m Tapeta handicap was won by William Buick on the Dhruba Selvaratnam-trained Kal Barg whom he produced fast and late to deny Godolphin’s Espiritu.
Fans were left scratching their heads when Mumbai opted to take Bumrah out of the attack after he bowled the fourth over
With the help of modern equipment, manicured golf courses and elite athletes the scores are getting lower and the game becoming even more captivating
With 10 matches remaining Arsenal lead a three-way title race having won eight successive games
Three separate Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including on a health centre in the border village of Habariyeh, killed 11 civilians
Netanyahu tries to soothe a rift with Biden as he plans to send a government delegation to Washington after earlier cancelling the trip
Among the 24 horses Japan has sent to Dubai is impressive Riyadh Dirt Sprint winner Remake who eyes a Middle East double
Liberty Island looks the horse to beat in the $6m Sheema Classic while Lord North chases history in the $5m Dubai Turf
MBRGI expanded its social and aid programmes to cover 105 countries - five more than in 2022