The Dubai World Cup Carnival’s second weekend comes to a conclusion
For those at Meydan, the racing experience could not have been better as there was a truly thrilling assortment of thirteen races that got their heart beats thundering for the outcomes that they were expecting, and who actually turned out to be victorious
at the end of the races.
Perhaps the most surprising victory for the evening was when, Musir, bolted through the track in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1, and left the favourite of the race Mendip, at a disappointing fourth. The race also revealed the historical trends being
repeated as Mendip could not attach the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 victory title against his name for a second year.
Musir is being considered for the Grade 1 Dubai Duty Free while the runner up of the same race, Master Of Hounds seems to be a promising entry for the Dubai World Cup.
Putting the Mahmood Al Zarooni and Saeed bin Suroor’s horses, Kinglet and Rassam, at a disadvantage during the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial was the Steven Burridge trained Dark Matter, who raced his way to victory.
Memorizing everyone with a three wins in as many starts, was Godolphin’s Songcraft, who was recently bought by them, and gave an astonishing performance despite the new jockey, trainer and owner. Alkimos, who is also considered one of the strongest
performers for Godolphin Racing couldn’t really surface to the claims made against him.
Striking a victory in the Friday’s Jebel Ali Stakes was Treble Jig, who was ridden by Wayne Smith, the two made a neat exit from the track with a ten lengths margin.
The weekend also revised the winning horses for the trainers in rivalry, Mahmood Al Zarooni, who was initially leading with three wins from the previous fixture and Saeed bin Suroor, who was hoping to take up his two wins.
Mahmood Al Zarooni trained Red Gulch, the 9 to 4 favourite for the race, could not rank anywhere better than the eighth position. Kinglet trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni was second in the UAE 2,000 Guineas Trial, while the 8 to 11 favourite for the race,
Rassam entered by Saeed bin Suroor followed in third behind the leader.
The moment for pride and glory soon came for Mahmood Al Zarooni whose trainee, Naqshabban, the 2 to 1 favourite won the Etisalat My Plan Data. In the same race, Saeed bin Suroor entered Emirates Champion, who finished third.
After Mendip missed the goal of winning the Challenge twice, and landed at the fourth position, Saeed bin Suroor got consoled by the pay back that Songcraft gave in the form of winning the Etisalat 4G.
The weekend witnessed favourites losing the races, already champions losing to make an impact a second time, and highly respected trainers on a few occasions losing their way or making up for it in some other race. The second weekend was filled with
thrills.
The event show cased the talent, ability and potential of many horses and trainers, who sometimes falsely get intimidated or overshadowed by others in the field.
Dark Matter proved out to be a dark horse, a performer about whom very few knew before the race just as Drosselmeyer, who became popular only after winning the Breeders’ Cup. There were horses like Naqshabban and Songcraft, who had not raced at Meydan
before and marked their debuts in relation to the racecourse.
The Dubai World Cup Carnival still is on its way to the grand racing night of 31stMarch, what gets changed, switched or shifted through the course is still to be seen.
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