NEWBURY, England // Julian Smart is a regular in the winners’ enclosure on Dubai International Arabian day, but by saddling Djainka Des Forges and Gazwan to victory he showed he has one, if not two, of the best Purebred Arabians in the world.
Djainka Des Forges had not run since finishing fourth in the Dubai Kahayla Classic at Meydan on World Cup night, but she made light of her absence on Sunday to defend her tiara in the Dubai Hatta International Stakes with an impressive performance.
Ridden with aplomb by Harry Bentley, last year’s joint-highest rated Purebred Arabian in the world finished two-and-a-half lengths clear of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s Loraa with the same distance back to Hurra.
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Just 35 minutes later, Bentley gave a glimpse of the future when Gazwan led home last year’s runner-up and 2013 winner Djet Taouy in the feature Dubai International Stakes.
Smart also picked up the concluding middle-distance handicap with Abhar, ridden by Sam Walker.
Djainka Des Forges and Gazwan generated £37,500 (Dh214,000) in prize money, but Smart has his eyes on a far greater sum at Longchamp on the first weekend of October.
“This is the best day of Purebred Arabian racing anywhere in the world,” Smart said.
“It doesn’t get any better, to come here with three runners and to have three winners is unbeatable. I have never won the two big races on the same day before.
“You have just seen my two horses for the Qatar Arabian World Cup, but you will have to ask Harry which one he will ride in Paris.”
If times can be a comparison, the six-year-old Djainka Des Forges covered the extended 2,000 metres in 2 minutes 25.76 seconds, while Gazwan, a grey colt two years her junior, ran the same distance in 2:24.36.
Bentley has time to consider his options, but if the race was run any sooner Djainka Des Forges would get the nod as she won the race last year.
“She has proven that she is the best Purebred Arabian in the world right now, and I would have to favour her,” he said. “Gazwan has so much scope and ability, though, and as he gets older he will only get better.”
After that success, Djainka Des Forges should be rated as the best in the world, but a better idea of the pecking order will emerge at Goodwood on Saturday when the Al Shaqab-owned pair of Mister Ginoux and Al Mourtazez clash in the Harwood International.
Gazwan’s task was made easier once trainer Beverley Deutrom scratched Furry from the Dubai International due to the soft ground, which due to steady rain had changed from good to soft earlier in the day.
Deutrom had another string to her bow with Lahoob, who was pushed to the front by former UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea.
The Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid-owned pair of Handassa and last year’s winner Al Hibaab tracked the pace while Djet Taouy was held up. As Lahoob tired to eventually finish fourth, Djet Taouy and Gazwan settled down to fight out the finish.
Al Hibaab was more than 40 lengths adrift in defence of his title. Jockey Paul Hanagan reported that although the seven year old disliked the ground, he stopped very quickly as if something was amiss.
Earlier in the day, Al Mouhannad became just the second horse to win the Group 1 Jebel Ali Zaabeel International Stakes after Dahess secured the hat-trick in 2006.
Ridden by Frenchman Thomas Henderson, the six-year-old grey mare trained by Christian Baillet produced her customary surging run to track down Meeyur to win by a length.
Baillet said he plans to take Al Mouhannad to Turkey for the International Malazgirt Trophy in Istanbul in September, where she will have to stretch out to 1,600 metres.
She is then likely to run in Toulouse in the French Arabian Breeders’ Challenge Pouliches for the HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup before a break. An unprecedented fourth win in the Zaabeel International Stakes back here next year has been already penciled in.
“She is a great champion,” Baillet said. “We are hopeful of a fourth, too.”
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