Ip Man posts his debut win for the 2012 season in the Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group Handicap on 21st January
The four-year-old, Ip Man, won the Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group Handicap on 21st January at the Meydan, which was raced over a distance of seven furlongs.
There were three Godolphin Racing entries in the race, two from Saeed bin Suroor, Al Aasifh and Global City, while Mahmood Al Zarooni was represented by, Bridgefield.
The 3 to 1 favourite of the race, Primaeval, was entered by James Fanshawe, ridden by Jamie Spencer.
There were two more entries from Al Raihe, Tamaathul and Il Grande Maurizio. The former finished third, and the latter completed the order of finish, fourteenth.
Ip Man, ridden by O Chavez, became prominent at the middle of the track, from where kicked on to progress for the next 2 ½ furlongs, which led him to take the charge of the track 1 ½ furlong out.
After that he ran on determinedly for home, breaking through the wire first on a field of fourteen with an advantage of 2 ½ lengths.
Burridge said:
"That is only the horse's fifth start and we did not what to expect from him here in Dubai. We could well look at the UAE 2000 Guineas with him now as he is only three and hopefully has a lot more to offer”.
The runner up of the race, Primaeval, did not fall into high gear right after breaking from the eleventh stall, rather emerged only for the final two furlongs which were slightly challenging, but could not stop him from finishing closest to the winner.
Finishing third in line behind the winner was Al Raihe trained Tamaathul.
Saeed bin Suroor trained Global City was fourth and his other entry, Al Aasifh, ran through the wire ninth.
Mahmood Al Zarooni’s charge, Bridgefield, was seventh.
This was, Ip Man’s, debut success for the year 2012, and before that he has raced only three times out of which he won once.
He cleared his maiden stakes on 18th November, 2011, at Kranji, and this race turned out to be his second career win.
How eventful the rest of the season proves out for the four-year-old is yet to be seen.
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