French filly Silva lands UAE 1000 Guineas

French filly Silva, Oisin Murphy atop, won by a whopping 9.75 lengths over Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby's Divine Image,

French filly Silva put the rest of the field to shade under the glistening lights of the Meydan Racecourse, clinching the UAE 1000 Guineas, the first Classic of the season, on Thursday night.
Saddled by Pia Brandt and the mount of Oisin Murphy, Silva won by a whopping 9.75 lengths over Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby's Divine Image in the fifth Race Meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
It was Silva's second victory in four starts with the three-year-old from Kodiac having notched her first win at Deauville, in her previous outing last December.
It also halted Godolphin's domination of the race, with Emirati handler Saeed bin Suroor being the most successful trainer with 10 wins, since the race was first run in 2001.
"It was a good job from my agent to pick her up and the trainer has done a super job," said Oisin Murphy.
"It was my first ride for Pia Brandt. I gave her a good run up and she jumped and she probably avoided all the kickback. Her next assignment might be tougher, but that was a great result," he added.
Meanwhile, Doug Watson's Drafted won the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint, a prep for the $2.5 million Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.
International runner Tato Key from Ireland was second with Ibn Malik coming in third.
Silva was one of two international runners in the fray that attracted a field of 15 runners, the other being Emma Point from the UK.
Satish Seemar's Lady Parma broke nicely and stayed in the lead as Godolphin's Lover's Knot and Muthhila jostled for position.
James Doyle's mount Lover's Knot couldn't keep up and Silva joined the fray.
With 800 metres of the 1600 metres left to play out, Lady Parma, Richard Mullen's ride, still led with Muthhila and Sandeep Jadhav's Foggy Flight right behind.
Silva made the move with 400 metres left to run and took the lead. The filly then pulled away with Divine Image, the mount of William Buick, left to fight for second place.
Divine Image won that battle with Lady Parma having to settle for third.
Godolphin's Dubai Beauty, saddled by Saeed bin Suroor, was fourth.
Earlier, the evening began with a thrilling Purebred Arabian contest with Goshawke winning the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Sponsored by Mina Hamriya.
The five-year-old from Sand Witchh and trained by Abdalla Al Hammadi, pipped Mawahiib by a head in the race run over 11 furlongs.
Ridden by Fernando Jara, it was Goshawke's fourth win in 13 starts.
Mawahib, the charge of Eric Lemartinel and the ride of Patrick Cosgrave, finished 3.25 lengths ahead of Af Al Sajanjle.
Faucon Du Loup, who had won the race in 2017, finished 11th and last among the field, with Group 1 winner Ziyadd being a non-runner.
Faucon Du Loup, the mount of Connor Beasley. had set the early pace but was soon overtaken by Sauternes Al Maury.
It was a bunched up field with half the race run but Sauternes Al Maury managed to stave off the challenge.
But with 400 metres to go, the seven-year-old dropped down the order with it becoming a tussle between Goshawke and Mawahib. Goshawke then went on to nick the win.
Meanwhile, Ahmed bin Harmash's Golden Jaguar won the Meydan Classic Trial run over seven furlongs.
james@khaleejtimes.com