Verdensstjernen Ghaiyyath var det lite å gjøre med. Han dundret unna i ensom majestet sammen med vår egen verdensstjerne William Buick. Godolphin vant dobbelt, mens Privilegiado fullførte kjempemessig til tredje og viste stor fremgang. Fireåringen som er eid av Stall Bright Side Of Life ble ridd av Dane O´Neill.
Niels Petersen uttalte på forhånd at han var fornøyd hvis Ascot Brass klarte en fjerdeplass i UAE Oaks. Hun møtte meget tøffe konkurrenter og med William Buick som pilot ble det fjerdeplass til slutt, ikke langt unna bronse. Det må eierne i Stall Valley være godt fornøyd med. Careless Whisper (Sandman Stables) klarte femtepremien, og dermed var det en morsom norsk aften i Dubai.
Pressemelding Dubai Racing Club
DUBAI MILLENNIUM (GROUP 3)
$200,000 | 2000m (turf)
Living up to his rating of 126, the highest in the UAE, Godolphin’s Ghaiyyath made short work of his five opponents in the $200,000 Dubai Millennium (G3), easily taking command early and never allowing his talented opposition within six lengths of him after the first furlong. Reeling off 400m sectionals of 26.69, 49.69, 1:13.06 and 1:36.44, he came into the lane with a commanding lead over Group 1 winner Royal Meeting and defending champ Spotify. The son of Irish 2000 Guineas (G1) and Irish 1000 Guineas (G1) winners Dubawi and Nighttime finished up in a canter under the line in 2:00.33—a new stakes and track record for the 2000m on turf. The final winning margin was 8½ lengths, with Spotify, under James Doyle, running on well for second and Norwegian Derby winner Privilegiado returning to good form in third under Dane O’Neill. . Certain Lad, Desert Encounter and Royal Meeting completed the order of finish
A 14-length winner in similar fashion two races back of the Grosser Preis von Baden (G1) in September and unplaced when last seen in the prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) in October, the Charlie Appleby trainee will now run in five weeks in the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1).
Winner: GHAIYYATH
Pedigree: Dubawi – Nighttime (Galileo)
Owner: Godolphin
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
Official Time: 2:00.33 (New Stakes and Track Record)
Previous Track Record: 2:00.67 – Hunter’s Light, 2016; Certain Lad, 2020
Previous Stakes Record (Meydan): 2:00.67 – Hunter’s Light, 2016
Margin of Victory: 8½ Lengths
William Buick, Jockey, GHAIYYATH (1st)—“He’s a very energetic horse and was a little bit fresh today. He puts a lot into everything he does. It was an exercise where we hoped to produce and he did it well. He’s a hugely talented horse and like Charlie mentioned, he’s going to get a nice rest until World Cup night now.”
Charlie Appleby, Trainer, GHAIYYATH (1st)—“I’m delighted. We’ve all seen what this horse can do, especially coming up his first start, there. The reason we’ve come here instead of going down the classic Sheema Classic route of running in the (Group 3) Dubai City of Gold (on Super Saturday, March 7) is that this gives us two more weeks. The plan was to just let him float into (the race) from his outside post and once he was on the lead, we would let him roll along. We’ve seen on numerous occasions what he can do when he’s left to his own devices like that. Hopefully we can just freshen him up now and aim toward the Sheema Classic. Knowing the nature of the beast, (free-running on the lead) is what you want to see. The main thing we all know in this game is just getting these horses to breathe. In the Arc, it was soft ground, but unfortunately he got hustled there and they went a strong gallop that day. He just could never get into a nice rhythm. Like any athlete, once you get them into a good rhythm where they’re breathing, they have the engine, which allows them to show their full potential.
“Ideally, you say you’ll have a wait and go straight (to the Sheema, in lieu of running today), but here in Dubai, he’s a bit more tricky than in the UK. We have stiffer gallops in the UK, where he we train on a flat track. He won’t want too much more galloping, because the more he does, the keener he gets. Hopefully now, with a run under his belt, we can just ease off on him and let him float into World Cup night and have a crack at the Sheema Classic.”
James Doyle, Jockey, SPOTIFY (2nd)—“Spotify ran a good race. He won the race last year, but we were not up against the same opposition in Ghaiyyath tonight. So he finished second tonight, he ran a good race, but not in the same league as the winner.”
Dane O’Neill, Jockey, PRIVILEGIADO (3rd)—“He’ll get farther. His last run was disappointing and everyone was scratching their heads wondering why it was so bad. He found his way back into some form tonight and he’ll get further and that’ll be the key to him. Hopefully he will have a little luck along the way. He got caught a little flat-footed on the turn and I thought that, since his run was so bad the other day, that I couldn’t put him under pressure to keep that position. I let him find his feet and let him finish from there.”
