Charlie Appleby’s First Conquest looked better than a handicapper when winning the Lord North Handicap three weeks’ ago and he proved it when storming home in the Gr3 Dubai Millennium Stakes (sponsored by Emaar) on Friday.
Conquest (William Buick in blue) wins the Gr3 Dubai Millenium Stakes on Friday evening (Pic – DRC)
Ridden by William Buick, who was happy to restrain him at the rear of the field for most of the 2000metre contest, First Conquest used his powerful turn of foot to good effect once they turned for home. He drew level at 100metres and won with something to spare over Cairo, a length and a half back, and Highbank, third.
“I wanted to ride him like Mickael Barzalona did last time, that’s how he likes to be ridden,” said Buick. “The pace wasn’t strong by any means and when the rail is out like that it’s hard to come from the back, so he’s done very well.
“He’s a horse really going up the grades.”
Appleby and Godolphin celebrated a treble, initiated when Mountain Breeze took race two, the first running of the Mawj Stakes, for three-year-old fillies.
The well-bred filly, a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Pintatubo, had kept Group 1 company last season and was in a different class to her nine rivals here. The daughter of Lope De Vega pulled for her head early in the 1400m contest, but Buick made light of the situation, easing her out for a dominant six and a half-length win over Octans.
“She was entitled to win and win as she did,” said Buick. “I was really pleased with what she did as she was a very early two-year-old and won in May over 1000m. Now she’s won over 1400m and 1600m will be fine.
“I’d imagine the Jumeirah 1000 Guineas, on Super Saturday, 1 March, will be the plan. It’s such a lovely programme for the three-year-olds out here.”
Romantic Style Shows Love for Sprinting
Godolphin later unleashed an equally impressive filly, Romantic Style, who beat the boys in the Listed Dubai Sprint (sponsored by Emaar.)
The four-year-old was a beaten favourite when second, over 1600m, in the Gr2 Cape Verdi last time and it seems that sprinting is her forte.
She was always traveling strongly in the centre of the track under Buick and it was a question of when, not if, she would go onto assert which she did with the minimum of fuss, extending away for a two and a half-length win over Haasim.
“The Cape Verdi was a disaster and Charlie and his team were sure that dropping back was the right thing to do,” said Buick.
“She’s won over 1200m before and she’s always had that speed. She was very comfortable today. Sometimes it’s hard against seasoned sprinters but she was a level above today.”
600 Up for Evergreen Mullen
Richie Mullen is one of the most popular jockeys in the weighing room and the Gr1-winning rider celebrated win number 600 in the UAE when Hallasan won the closing Jumeirah Guineas Trial (sponsored by Emaar).
Prior to the race it was Hallasan’s stablemate, Al Qudra, Group 1-placed as two-year-old, who commanded most of the attention. Ridden by Buick, he tried hard to get to Hallasan in the closing stages but the winner had the benefit of race fitness and crossed the line a length ahead.
“The first one was for Godolphin back in 2000, when I won the Al Fahidi Fort on Grazalema,” said a delighted Mullen. “It seems appropriate that number 600 is for the same firm.
“I owe the Maktoum family an awful lot, both publicly, in my career, and privately in that my children have grown up here.”
Earlier on, the first race, the Oasis by Emaar Handicap, was a significant one for Meydan-based trainer Ali Al Badwawi who got off the mark for the season thanks to Smart System.
The son of The Factor was making his ninth start here for his third trainer, but Al Badwawi has found the key to him and he registered a pleasing gate-to-wire success in the dirt contest, extending well off the final bend and beating Davy Lamp by just under three lengths.
“He’s a maiden who has been improving and today he got a better gate (1),” said winning jockey Bernardo Pinheiro, for whom it was a 20th winner of the campaign. “The 1400m was a question mark, but it was good as the pace wasn’t so fast and I got a soft lead and let him breathe on the turn.”
The rail again proved the place to be in the third race, the Valley by Emaar three-year-old Conditions event, which went to Undefeated.
Bhupat Seemar’s charge hadn’t lived up to his name in three previous starts but didn’t look like being caught here under Tadhg O’Shea, getting better as he went further and beating Honest Moon by seven lengths.
“He’s got a very good name and a very good owner, Saeed Suhail,” said O’Shea. “He shows the world in the mornings but just took a while for the penny to drop and even with the headgear he was still looking around in the straight.
“I think he’ll improve for this as he’s a good-actioned horse and he stays well.”
O’Shea and Seemar doubled up later on, when Guns And Glory broke the 2200metre dirt track record in the Emaar South Handicap.
Fitri Hay’s four-year-old had faced some tough tasks since breaking his maiden in March but was ultra-impressive here, grabbing the lead, rail and powering to a ten length win over Inner Wisdom.
“He’s a lovely horse. He was well entitled on ratings to put in a good performance and he’s been training beautifully at home,” said O’Shea.
“He’s a good genuine sort and the race set up perfectly for him.”
Jockey Jim Crowley has enjoyed a profitable spell in the Middle East of late and jetted in from Bahrain for two rides, the second of which was a winning one on Khanjar in the Dubai Creek Harbour Handicap.
“He is useful, and he’s won over various trips, but seven furlongs is perfect for him,” said the rider of Musabbeh Al Mheiri’s charge. “He broke well, and I was concerned about being four wide going around the bend, but I was happy with where I was and he came home well.”
Meydan hosts another eight-race card on Friday, 7 February, when the Lord Glitters Handicap and the Dubai Trophy are the features.
