Phillipi trainer Brett Crawford reaches a new career milestone with his first Dubai runner at Meydan this evening as Sun Met winner Whisky Baron steps out in the Gr2 Zabeel Mile.
Brett Crawford – exciting times
The eighth meeting of the 2018 Dubai World Cup Carnival is a high-quality one including three turf feature races, highlighted by the Zabeel Mile.
The race was won last year by Championship (Silvestre De Sousa) who is back to defend his crown.
Colm O’Donoghue will partner Whisky Baron who returns from a break and is thought to likely need the outing.
Mike de Kock who has both Janoobi (Jim Crowley) and Noah From Goa (Christophe Soumillon) in the Zabeel Mile, is an old adversary of Championship among the ten declared.
Crowley’s mount was a very game second in this year’s Al Fahidi Fort, whereas Noah From Goa was an even fifth in that race. The latter also chased Championship home in the Zabeel Mile last year, having finished third to him in the Al Fahidi Fort.
Noah From Goa seen winning Cape Guineas
Trained by Ahmad bin Harmash for Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohd Al Maktoum, Championship was one of the stars of the early part of the 2017 carnival, winning the 1400m Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort before landing the Zabeel Mile. Sadly, a setback ruled him out for the rest of the season and he only returned to racecourse action in this year’s Al Fahidi Fort three weeks ago, when he beat just one of his eight rivals.
Bin Harmash also saddles Treasury Notes (Connor Beasly) for Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum. The 6-year-old was an excellent second in a 1400m turf handicap last Thursday on what was just his second UAE outing and first since March last year.
“We were very pleased with Treasury Notes last week on his first run after a break. He has a nice low draw in two, whereas Championship has the outside gate”. Bin Harmash said: “That is not a problem though, as he likes to race prominently and should be able to from there. With a bit of luck in running hopefully both should run well in an open race.”
