After winning the Al Rashidiya Trial with Mahbooba on 5th January, De Kock wins the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 through Musir on 12th January
The $200,000 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 sponsored by Etisalat was raced at the Meydan on 12th January, with a lineup of twelve contestants. It was raced over a distance of 1,600 metres, and was won by De Kock trained Musir.
Some of the most notable trainers and their entries included De Kock, with Musir and Master of Hounds, another two entries from the stables of Saeed bin Suroor, Secrecy and Mendip.
Besides these, one of the most inspiring entry for the race was A Al Raihe trained Derbaas.
To top it off, Mahmood Al Zarooni conditioned Xin Xu Lin was also part of the field.
Trying to collide with history was Saeed bin Suroor, who entered Mendip, the same horse who had won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 last year.
He was the 7 to 4 favourite for this year’s race as he was trying to get the title under his belt for the second year in a row.
However, as the race trends had indicated, no horse has ever been able to win this particular challenge twice.
It was Mahmood Al Zarooni trained Xin Xu Lin, with his jockey Mickael Barzalona, who rushed out of the seventh gate and fell into a high gear almost instantly.
He did progress approaching three furlongs, but couldn’t keep a firm grip on the lead as the competition closed in.
Breaking from the fourth stall was Musir, who had Christophe Soumillon onboard. He tracked the leaders at the beginning, and then steadily improved through the next 2 ½ furlongs.
He took charge of the final furlong and finished the race very comfortably.
The second position was secured by Musir’s stablemate, Master Of Hounds.
He stayed in the rear and only became prominent in the final two furlongs, bursting with such sheer effort that he finished the closest to the winner.
Both the Saeed bin Suroor entries finished the race one after the other, Secrecy came third under Kieren Fallon, and was followed by the 7 to 4 favourite of the race, Mendip, who was fourth on the other end of the wire.
The pair of horses entered by De Kock and Saeed bin Suroor dominated the first four positions in the race, initial two went to the winning trainer, De Kock, while the next two were secured by the entries of the latter trainer.
Mahmood Al Zarooni trained Xin Xu Lin could not manage any better position than the last one, after weakening mid track.
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