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| Sumita Pawar |
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Three weeks ahead of the Jebel Ali Mile, the Group three race looks like it's going to be a walk in the park for Simon and Ed Crisfords' Swing Vote. The 4YO gelding showed his worth in a course and distance prep, indicating that he is more than capable of winning the feature event on 10th February. The Shadwell-sponsored prep on Saturday was won by Swing Vote by a comfortable four lengths, with Adrie de Vries showcasing some impressive moves while riding him.
Swing Vote went from last to first with ease, displaying more progress than his UAE debut three weeks ago. He once again defeated Salem bin Ghadayer's Tenbury Wells, and his timing was highly impressive, winning in 0.06s faster than his last time. This victory marked his sixth win in his career, with a record of 4-0-0.
Previously trained by Andre Fabre in France for Godolphin, Swing Vote won his first two starts before finishing fifth of eight in a Listed event at Chantilly last May, where he faced ace Impact, the eventual Arc winner.
On Saturday, De Vries let Swing Vote settle at the rear of the field to a pace set by Ismail Mohammed's Justice Protocol. Tenbury Wells was second while Swing Vote was last of all, a near-dozen lengths off the pace as they approached the turn. De Vries gave Swing Vote a nudge at the 600m marker and found a clear path for him. Despite Tenbury Wells being five to six clear at the 200m marker and Musabbeh Al Mheiri's Daramethos in hot pursuit, Swing Vote hit the front with 100m to go and won by four lengths without any trouble, even though his rider eased him off.
“He will definitely be headed for the Jebel Ali Mile and we will see how he comes out of the race, but he did a very good job there,” commented Ed Crisford.
Winning rider De Vries added, “He was absolute class and he showed he can go further as he did not stop at the finish.”
On the day of the Mile, the Listed Jebel Sprint took place, with its preparation being the 1000m Emirates Airline Cup. Rawy, trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri, won the prep race under Oscar Chavez after a stress-free run, finishing two-and-a-quarter lengths clear of Al Tariq, trained by Doug Watson and ridden by Pat Dobbs. Story Of Light was a length-and-a-quarter further behind in third for Ahmad bin Harmash and Connor Beasley.
The Wathba Stallions Cup sponsored by HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Racing Festival 1200m maiden (4yo+) kicked off the afternoon, which was won by Jina'an, trained by Majed Al Jahoori, who flew to finish seven lengths clear of Rashad Al Wathba (Ibrahim Al Hadhrami/Beasley).
Shanaghai City, trained by Rashed Bouresly, pulled off a surprise and won the 1200m Al Shafar Investment Cup by a length and three-fourths from Addicted To Chaos, trained by Marwan Al Baidhaei and ridden by Gabriele Malune. Meanwhile, the 1200m Zayed Ambition Cup by Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (NW, 3yo) was won by Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's resident trainer Michael Costa's Turjman, who bolted home under Tom Marquand to finish seven-and-a-quarter lengths clear of Bin Harmash-trained Where's The Wayya, ridden by Beasley.
After the co-features, the 1600m Emirates NBD Cup maiden took place and witnessed De Vries claiming a second success of the afternoon aboard Fawzi Nass' El Introvertido, who put a classy six-and-a-quarter lengths between himself and second-placed Watson trainee The Magical McCool, ridden by Dobbs.
The concluding 1950m Romeo Interiors Cup saw Bin Harmash manage a 16th winner for the campaign after Cosmic Desert, ridden by Saif Al Balushi, struck and battled Costa-trained Makfoul, ridden by Marquand, all the way to the finish.