Sheikh Hamdan's bay colt edges out Godolphin pair in UAE sweep

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed's Sea Lord beat Poet's Voice, the horse owned by his father.

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Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed's Sea Lord beat Poet's Voice, the horse owned by his father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in a thrilling climax to the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes over a mile on turf at Salisbury, England, yesterday. Godolphin's Poet's Voice settled in last place under Ted Durcan and remained at the tail of the nine-runner field with a quarter of a mile remaining. As the action intensified approaching the distance, the three-year-old Dubawi colt moved widest of all to unleash his challenge and stormed home down centre track, only failing by a nose at the line.

Secrecy, the second Godolphin runner having his first start since finishing third at the Meydan Racecourse on February 5, finished third under Frankie Dettori. Kieren Fallon, who rode the Crown Prince of Dubai's Sea Lord to victory, said: "Ted was coming at me fast - he knew to go wide because of what [the trainer] Mark Johnston's horses are like in a battle. He [Sea Lord] has done well in handicaps and carried a lot of weight at Goodwood.

"He's tough and genuine. You have to wind him up, but riding horses like that make you feel good." Earlier, Dettori unexpectedly gave one of his famous flying dismounts after scraping home aboard Barq in the Mary Wort Memorial Maiden Stakes. This time his celebration was not for the Wiltshire crowd but for his six-year-old daughter Tallula. The Godolphin colt looked ready to build on his promising reappearance at Yarmouth for much of the way but was very nearly overcome by debutant Magic Jack, who narrowed the gap to a head.

"Tallula has been bugging me to come in the helicopter for two years now and I said to her 'today's the day'. That was for her," Dettori said. Bin Suroor added: "He needed the race last time and we'll look for a better one now. Seven furlongs is his trip." Rawnaq, the horse owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, finished second in the Take That 2 Here on Saturay Handicap at Beverley yesterday, finishing half-a-length behind Keenes Day, the winner.

* Agencies