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| Rowan Anderson |
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Godolphin and Charlie Appleby have gone back-to-back winning the Zabeel Trophy overnight with Sovereign Prince.
Twelve months ago, it was Path of Thunder flying the flag for the international racing powerhouse but this year the blue flag was flown as the 4YO was piloted home under William Buick taking the spoils in the AED120,000 contest.
Facing six rivals over the 1600m journey when popped the question by Buick the son of Dubawi came away clear with 500m left to run and in the end winning by 1.25 lengths to Ahmad bin Harmash’s Zaman.
“He is an uncomplicated horse and nobody else wanted to lead so I was happy to let him stride on. We know he loves it here on the Meydan turf and he will improve as that should take the freshness out of him,” Buick said.
Sovereign Prince made it three from three at the Meydan track including the Listed Jumeirah Classic, although his last prior start saw him finish fifth in the Saudi Derby, he was back and ready to perform as expected.
The card overnight included six races with the second most valuable race being the Riviera by Azizi Handicap, over 1200 metres on turf, which saw former Australian trainer Michael Costa victorious with Nibraas.
The 5YO gelded son of Uncle Mo was ridden by Jean Van Overmeire, also formerly based in Australia, for the first time after he finished 10th last start in the Longines Spirit Collection at the end of November.
He broke his maiden a year ago with Richard Mullen onboard, but this was his third start with Costa and Zabeel Stables, and the performance was rather handy.
Tracking leaders throughout the race, Van Overmeire snuck his mount through the pack, hitting the lead with 400m left of the trip and winning by a short head to claim the win.
“He has always shown plenty of speed at home so we thought this looked a good spot for him as his turf form was good. Luckily it worked out well,” Van Overmeire said.
Hoop Ray Dawson rang up his 15th winner for the season while also amassing AED 1,5 million in prize money so far with a double on the night. The double also was delivered through his partnership with trainer Ahmad bin Harmash.
The first came in the Creek Views by Azizi Maiden, a race over the 1400metre dirt course for three-year-olds that attracted a field of nine, all with the hopes to earn a spot in the UAE 2000 Guineas.
This leg of the double turned out to be a clinic by the Bolt D’Oro x Sonja’s Angel colt Mr. Raj. Under Dawson he put five lengths on the field after leading 300m out and piling on the pain rolling on for the victory. This was the colt’s second start after finishing second last start a month ago at Jebel Ali.
“I wanted to be more prominent but he was a bit slowly away but he has handled the kickback and shown a great attitude having shown a decent turn of foot to get to the front,” Dawson said of the performance.
The Mina by Azizi over the 1900 metres closed out the card with a full field of 16 and saw the second of the bin Harmash and Dawson wins to make up the winning double for the night.
The 5YO Gareth was returning following a tenth-place finish in Meydan last start and not having won since 2021 and never in the UAE after ten starts in the region.
Racing will now move to Abu Dhabi on Thursday before returning to Meydan highlighted by the Group Two Al Rashidiya and UAE 2000 Guineas Trial.