Poetic Flare edged out Godolphin’s Master Of The Seas in a thriller to clinch the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday.
The Jim Bolger-trained Dawn Approach colt, under veteran jockey Kevin Manning, had his head in front after a ding-dong battle to the line to deny William Buick the first English classic prize of the season.
Jessica Harrington’s Lucky Vega was a further neck down in third and Godolphin’s Naval Crown, who led most of the way, stayed on to take fourth spot.
The success also provided the Irish pair Manning, 54, and Bolger, 79, with a second 2000 Guineas success, following Poetic Flare's sire Dawn Approach's victory in the race in 2013.
“It's a great training performance, he's done nothing wrong all along this horse and was impressive in the Guineas trial at Leopardstown,” Manning said.
“I knew he'd come forward from then and I made no secret that I fancied him. He's just a proper horse, I really thought that he would win today. The plan was always to have this guy come here and thankfully it's worked out.”
Dawn Approach made an unsuccessful bid in the Derby after his success in the 2000 Guineas, and Manning is not certain that Poetic Flare could follow in his footsteps.
“I'm not sure, he was a little bit keen with me today for the first furlong or two,” Manning said when asked if Poetic Flare would stay the one and-a-half mile Derby trip.
“I'll sit down with Jim and have a chat but I can't see why he won't stay a mile and a quarter.”
Buick held Master Of The Seas in the rear before making steady headway from the halfway mark. He briefly led over a furlong out but the Charlie Appleby-trained runner just failed at the line.
Appleby and Buick completed a double earlier with Creative Force taking the opener, a Class 2 handicap, and Lazuli landing the Group 3 Palace House Stakes.
Lazuli, who broke the course record over the same five-furlong distance in the Group 3 World Trophy at Newbury in September, raced in third before quickened a furlong out to win from Came From The Dark by a neck.
“Lazuli came into this race fresh and well,” Appleby said of the four-year-old son of Dubai.
“We were due to run him again in Dubai but he unfortunately had a stone bruise on the eve of the race, so we were forced to miss that engagement.
“It took him a while to come right but we maintained his training again just before he flew back to the UK. He had a penalty today and I felt it was a good performance. William feels that Lazuli is likely to come forward for the race in terms of fitness.
“I haven’t really thought beyond today’s race. He is probably a Group 2 horse and, if he got the rub of the green, he might just pull something out in Group 1 company. He is a handy little horse to have around.”
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Checks continue
A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.