Connor Beasley led Native Approach to a stunning victory over a quality sprint field to earn Emirati trainer Ahmad bin Harmash first prize in the Al Quoz Sprint at the Dubai World Cup on Saturday.
Beasley kept pace with the lead horses throughout the 1,200m turf sprint stayed on strongly to pip the Japanese raider Lugal, under Haruki Sugiyama, by a neck for the Too Darn Hot gelding return with his biggest career prize in 14 starts.
An ecstatic Beasley was full of praise for the horse in what was the first of the five Group 1 prizes for the thoroughbreds on the Dubai World Cup card at Meydan Racecourse.
“He's a bundle of speed and loves the straight sprint trip," said an ecstatic Beasley When I first sat on him at the start of the season, I said to the boss he feels like a sprinter.
“To be honest, when I won on him Super Saturday [over the track and trip in his last start], I just got a little bit of a toe into the race, but today there was nothing able to take me, so he's one of them, the more you fight with him, the more energy you'll lose.
“So, I just got him in a nice rhythm and sort of let him slip away from the 400, and, you know, once the other horse, Japanese horse, came to me, he was very determined.”
Mickael Barzalona guided Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum-owned Fairy Glen to an impressive victory in the Dubai Gold Cup.
The horse was returning to the track on the back of a successful debut at Meydan to win the Group 2 Balanchine last month.
And, tackling the 3,200-metre trip for the first time, Fairy Glen showed plenty of zest to take the Group 2 prize from Caballo De Mar and Al Nayyir.
“It's fantastic. We ran her in the Balanchine here, which was a bit short for her, mile and one. But since that race she's really blossomed, done really well,” said Simon Crisford, who trains the five-year-old mare with his son Ed.
“She got invited for this race, and she's never run two miles before, so we're a little bit sceptical about her staying the extra two furlongs. She's won over a mile and six back in England. She's done really well, and I thought Mickael rode a sensible race.”
French jockey Barzalona added: “She had a bit of concern, that's why we just stand up in a four-handed position and try to relax as quick as we can.
“But actually, we went a nice gallop. She was pretty happy where she ended up. And when they pressed the pace mid-band, I thought I got plenty in my hand, but I don't know for how long, so I waited a bit. And when I asked her to pick it up, she picked it up nicely.”
Cristiano Demuro and Wonder Dean battled it out with Barzalona on Six Speed to the winning line, clinching a record fifth successive UAE Derby for Japan.
Barzalona tried to clinch the win on Bhupat Seemar’s Not This Time colt, but he could not deny Daisuke Takayanagi from claiming the prize after a tense battle to add another UAE Derby for the land of the rising sun.
Silvestre De Sousa landed the Godolphin Mile on David Johnson’s Banishing to stretch his UAE champion jockey’s lead to four from fellow Brazilian Bernardo Pinheiro.
The six-year-old Ghostzapper gelding trained in the USA for Saudi owner Sharaf Mohammed Alhariri under a well-timed run got the better of Bhupat Seemar’s trio – Commissioner King, Mendelssohn Bay and Diamond Dealer.
“He's a proper mile [horse] and there was plenty of pace in the race. I just rolled the race according to the horse wanted to be and he responded well,” De Sousa said.
History was made in the Arabian showpiece and traditional opener of the meeting when Falaah, under Omani jockey Al Moatasem Al Balushi produced a spirited run to clinch a thrilling victory in the Dubai Kahayla Classic success.
A winner over the track and trip in his last start on Super Saturday, the eight-year-old gelding overcame the widest draw from Gate 15 wide to collar the UAE champion rider Silvestre De Sousa on Moraad to prevail by a head at the winning post.
Moraad hit the front on the home stretch and looked set for victory, but it was not to be, as Balushi wore him down in the last 150m for Oman’s first success in the race.
“It indeed was the first for Oman, and Alhamdulillah, that’s a huge congratulations to the team,” Al Balushi said.
“Drawn in the widest stall was a concern but he’s a champion horse and did well to overcome the tough draw. The expectations were high after he won on Super Saturday and he was outstanding today.”
