1 of 2 | Warren Point wins the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes at Meydan Racecourse Friday. Photo courtesy of Dubai Racing Club
Feb. 5 (UPI) — Godolphin showcased potential stars in the weekend edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival while the Hong Kong Derby series got going with a potential star there, too.
In England, the All-Weather Championships continued their role as a proving ground for the rich races on the horizon in the Middle East.
The details:
Dubai
For the second straight Friday, Godolphin horses dominated the weekly edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, winning four of the five turf events while showcasing some potential stars for later this year in both Europe and America.
Charlie Appleby saddled all four winners, while giving William Buick a leg up on three of them.
Mickael Barzalona rode the fourth of the quartet, Warren Point, who threaded through traffic in the stretch to land the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes at 2,000 meters. Godolpin’s better-fancied Warren Point settled for fourth under Buick.
Warren Point won featured races in Bahrain and Qatar in 2023, but was out of the money in two Grade I events in New York.
“He lost his way a bit over there in America,” Appleby said. “We’ll hope this restores his confidence. Mickael gave him a great ride.”
Midnight Magic put Buick and Godolphin on top in the co-featured Dubai Sprint. The 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner squeezed through a narrow gap between rivals near the 200-meter mark and got home first by 3/4 length.
He had suffered through a 1-for-5 campaign last season, but Buick said Friday’s effort was more his style and showed promise.
“If you look at his form, that’s the way he won as a 2-year-old,” he said. “Hopefully, he’s ack to that now.”
The Jumeirah Fillies Classic produced a 1-2 finish for Godolphin with Cinderella’s Dream displaying unlimited potential in a race won last year by late-season superstar Mawj. Cinderella’s Dream rallied from the back of the field and won by 2 3/4 lengths in a hands-and-heels ride by Buick.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out,” the jockey said of her future. Appleby, while rolling his eyes at the Mawj comparison, said Cinderella’s Dream has “a great heart and a decent engine” and will carry on to the Jumeirah One Thousand Guineas at 1,600 meters on Super Saturday.
On the colts’ side, Legend of Time, by Sea the Stars, also was much the best In the Jumeirah Guineas, scoring his second win on the season. Buick said the colt “has progressed the whole time and I think he’s going to be a nice horse for the future.”
Pressed by the Dubai Racing Club interviewer whether Legend of Time might have the makings of a Derby contender, he said, “It’s a long way to go and it’s hard to stand here in early February and say so. But we hope so.”
Appleby said Legend of Time is “building a profile that could fit the Derby trials. But he might suit America better, perhaps the Saratoga Derby.”
The night’s second race, the Lincoln Presidential Race at 1,900 meters on the dirt, also offered up some interesting prospects.
The impressive winner, Elyabri, an American Pharoah colt, led all the way and won by 3 lengths without being asked. Trainer Musaba Al Mheiri said he could stretch out for the Al Bastakiya on Super Saturday and, all being well, the Group 2 UAE Derby on World Cup night.
In that same race, Tapit’sstateofverve, a Charles Fipke homebred colt, made an impressive mid-race move after a slow start but stalled while taking kickback in the lane and finished fifth.
Trainer Doug Watson said before the race the 1,900 meters wasn’t his first choice for the colt’s first start but was dictated by circumstances. He said he was satisfied with the willingness Tapit’sstateofverve showed, adding, “Mr. Fipke sends us some nice horses every year and he’ll go back to America.”
Hong Kong
Sunday’s Hong Kong Classic Mile was the first of three races in the series that culminates in the BMW Hong Kong Derby and Helios Express won convincingly enough to be seen as a candidate to sweep the series.
With Hugh Bowman up, the Toronado gelding waited behind a slow pace, got going approaching mid-stretch and surged to the lead and a 1 3/4-length victory over Helene Feeling. Star Mac and a traffic-impeded Speed Dragon finished third and fourth.
Only Golden Sixty and Rapper Dragon have swept the series, which advances to the Hong Kong Classic Cup at 1,800 meters and finishes with the 2,000-meter Derby. Trainer John Size said Helios Express will get a chance to become the third.
“It was a slow-run race and he was able to adapt to a very slow tempo, which is a good thing in a racehorse,” Size said of Sunday’s effort.
“He was able to overcome that and still win the race. Of this generation of horses, he seems to be the quality horse amongst the ones he’s competing against, and it was a very convincing win.”
He added: “There’s always some concern” about the next two races “because the circumstances of the races can change dramatically from one race to the next. The good horses overcome a different style of running and they win. He has to do that. He has that in front of him.”
England
Diligent Harry, with Ryan Moore up, led from the start and captured Sunday’s Kachy Stakes at 6 furlongs around two bends on the Lingfield Park all-weather course by 1 length over last year’s winner, Annaf.
It was the seasonal debut for both horses with the potential of a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Group 2 1351 Turf Sprint looming.
Trainer Appleby said before the race he would be happy with a decent effort and a top-three finish for Annaf.
“Hopefully, he can keep progressing because the plan after Lingfield is the Saudi Cup meeting. This run should leave him spot on and I would like to think that he will head out there with a very good chance.”
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