Saeed Bin Suroor pleased with Air Of Glory’s debut run – Horseracing News
Saeed Bin Suroor has been highly impressed with the performance of Air Of Glory, who was earlier under the supervision of banned trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni.
The three-year-old colt had not participated in any event under his former trainer, so no one really knew how he would perform. Despite that, he was rated as the favourite to succeed in his debut outing because of his strong pedigree.
Since the young stallion ran in Maiden Stakes, there was lesser pressure on him, as all the other runners were also new to the sport. The distance to cover was over two miles, which meant that stamina would come into play towards
the final few furlongs.
Air Of Glory showed very good control throughout the race and was ridden really nicely by seasoned jockey Mickael Barzalona. The pair stayed calm at the start of the event and pushed at the right time to take victory by almost
one length.
Bin Suroor was really pleased to see how things went for his new trainee and he said, “It's the first run for the horse and I'm sure he will improve - there'll be more to come. He was carrying a bit of condition and we'll look
for a better race now.”
The veteran trainer has taken over most of the Godolphin horses, which were hit by the doping scandal. It will take some time before all the stallions get used to their new training methods but the progress so far has been good.
On the other hand, Al Zarooni’s career seems to be almost over now, as he has been suspended for eight years. Even if he returns to action after serving the ban, it will be hard for him to find a job with any famous owner. He was
earlier working with Sheikh Mohammed.
However, a new trainer is in line to take his spot. According to Godolphin's racing manager Simon Crisford, “Charlie Appleby is taking the trainer's course and we will be processing his application to be a licence holder until
Sheikhs Mohammed decides long-term what he wants to do.”
Appleby worked as an assistant with Al Zarooni before the latter was banned. Therefore, he seems to be the right man to take over the new role of a lead trainer.
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