Dubai Love silences Final Song to earn surprise victory at World Cup Carnival

Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor wins unprecedented 11th UAE 1000 Guineas at Meydan on Thursday

Jockey Patrick Cosgrave on Dubai Love after winning the UAE 1000 Guineas at Meydan on Thursday. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor won an unprecedented 11th UAE 1000 Guineas –but not with the horse that was expected to stretch his record on the dirt classic for three-year-old fillies.

Bin Suroor’s Guineas Trial winner Final Song with Christophe Soumillon atop was the hot favourite but tackling the 1,600-metre distance for the first time, she failed stay the trip.

Stable companion Dubai Love, under Patrick Cosgrave, on the other hand improved from fourth in that race to win the prize in Week 4 of the Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan on Thursday.

Cosgrave, jumping out of Gate 1, raced along the rails behind the early leaders Down On Da Bayou (Royston Ffrench) and Final Song.

Final Song hit the front at the 400m home stretch as Cosgrave moved across to the outside to challenge, and then the Night Of Thunder filly stayed the best of the trio to win by three and-a-quarter lengths from Down On Da Bayou with Final Song a further two lengths behind in third.

“I knew this filly would stay,” Cosgrave said after his second success in the race in the last three years. “She has a mile and a quarter written all over her and I think she’s come on from her first run here.

“I was quietly confident and she ran a massive race. She beat [Final Song] and I was impressed with the way she ran in the straight. I said to Saeed that after her last run, she will be a staying filly for the Oaks.”

Soumillon acknowledged Final Song didn’t stay the trip. “She’s a proper seven-furlong filly,” he said. “I’m sure she can handle this kind of distance, but when she was so close to the pace, she wasn’t relaxed.

“The last 200m you could feel she needed more oxygen. It’s not a bad run, but the way she was riding today, it wasn’t the best way to make her stay the distance.”

Bin Suroor saddled a treble and Charlie Appleby added another in the silks of Sheikha Al Jalila Racing for the Dubai racing operation to take home four of the six prizes that were on offer on the night.

Harry Bentley steered Dubai Future in the opener and Kevin Stott rode Laser Show to victory in the Al Bastakiya Trial. James Doyle was on the saddle

Bentley raced behind Zaman for much of the 2,410m trip before heading the race on the home stretch to win from Michael Halford’s Massif Central by a quarter-length.

“I think he travelled incredibly well and also picked up,” Bentley said. “He stays very well and could go even further. He’s a horse that’s running only his fourth race and if he climbs in the ranks he’ll end up definitely as a 100-plus horse.”

Doyle completed a double. He took the Listed Dubai Dash on board Charles Hills’ Equilateral and the Group Two Al Fahidi Fort atop Appleby’s Glorious Journey.

“We have tried to win in Dubai for a while, so it was good to get that monkey off your back,” Hills said of his first Carnival winner in five years of trying.

“It’s important because this country has been such a great supporter of ours through the years.

“There’s a Group Two [Meydan Sprint] in a few weeks time with him. If we can win that, then we’ll definitely try him at the [Group One $2 million Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night] over six furlongs.”