DUBAI (ALETIHAD)
He dominated the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup Day and Tuz put up a strikingly similar performance when winning the Listed Al Garhoud Sprint (sponsored by Phi Advertising) - the feature race of Dubai Racing Carnival meeting three.
Being drawn seven of seven was a minor concern for jockey Tadhg O’Shea, but once he got Tuz onto the rail the race was effectively over and he barely saw another rival, cruising home by five and three-quarter lengths from defending champion Colour Up. It was a superb performance, even against lesser rivals, and signalled an intent for a defence of the Golden Shaheen on 5 April.
“He’s very, very good and he got there [to the front] easily," said O'Shea. "He’s awesome out of the gates – you just lie up his neck and let him at it. The difference between Tuz and other horses is that he lands running.
“He’s a ball of muscle and a ball of fire.”
“In my opinion he’s one of the fastest horses in the world,” said trained Bhupat Seemar. “He beat some of the fastest horses from Japan and America in the Golden Shaheen. He had to do what he did today, but then there’s always a worry because he’s a big horse, a seven-year-old, and he was drawn seven.
“He set some very fast fractions, and you can see from the horses who finished around him that the early horses didn’t finish in the money and they came from the back to finish second and third.
“We’ll probably run next in January [G3 Dubawi Stakes] and then Super Saturday [G3 Mahab Al Shimaal] and then the World Cup [G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen.]”
Osborne Strikes for the Europeans
There was a first international winner of the Carnival when Jamie Osborne struck at his first attempt with Heart Of Honor, the professional winner of the opening ARN Conditions Stakes for two-year-olds.
The son of Honor A.P. was purchased specifically for a Dubai campaign and owners Jim and Claire Bryce were at Meydan to celebrate the victory. Ridden by Adrie De Vries, Heart Of Honor stalked the pace from three wide and then forged ahead in the straight, comfortably holding Estmrar by four and a half lengths.
“Jim and Claire came here last year with Many A Star, who wasn’t good enough, and this year we wanted to do things differently so thankfully they backed me in buying dirt horses,” explained Osborne. “It was also my brief to give Claire a winner two days before her birthday, and it’s not often a plan comes off!”
Heart Of Honor will now be aimed at a Non-Winners of Two contest on 10 January, added the trainer.
Treble for Tudhope and Al Mheiri
Musabbeh Al Mheiri is rarely out of form and he and stable jockey Danny Tudhope celebrated a treble. The most eye-catching of the three wins was El Nasseeb in the closing Daman Markets Conditions Stakes for three-year-olds, over 1200metres.
The son of Profitable had been off for more than a year since breaking his maiden by seven lengths in November 2023, but was superb on his belated return here. Towards the back of the field on the home turn, he suddenly grew wings and charged past favourite Falcon Of Arabia, winning by four lengths.
“He’s a good horse so we wanted to make sure he was 100 per cent before running him again,” said Al Mheiri. “He wasn’t injured, just had some small soreness problems. He has so much ability, but we were worried tonight that he was against race fit rivals.”
The finish of the night came in the Binghatti Developers Handicap, over 1400metres, when Al Mheiri’s Onight came out the best of a three-way dash to the line.
The four-year-old had been well beaten on his three previous UAE starts but put his head down at the right time to deny Gamekeeper by a diminishing nose, with Matloob only a head behind.
“It’s a great feeling as Onight last year wasn’t in his best condition; he took a lot of time for Musabbeh Al Mheiri to get him back,” said co-owner Tawfiq Mohammed.
“Today he surprised us. We thought he’d run much better than last year, but Danny Tudhope gave him the best ride ever!”
Tudhope and Al Mheiri also took the 2000metre Zoho Handicap with Elyabri – again in dramatic fashion.
Runner-up Mount Kosciuszko was unlucky under Pat Dobbs, being stopped in his run, but still tried valiantly to get back on terms with the winner, failing by half a length.
Connor Beasley and Ahmad Bin Harmash were cruelly denied on the line with Gamekeeper but they made amends in the very next race, the 2200metre Binghatti Developers Handicap, when Ezaj demolished his rivals.
The four-year-old was always on the heels of the leaders but kicked clear inside the final 400metres for one of the most impressive wins of the night, beating Aldhaja by five lengths.
“Ezaj is training very well in the yard,” said Bin Harmash. “We train him two circuits in the morning and he just keeps galloping. We’ll see what the handicapper does, but if he goes too high we can move to the turf.”
Doug Watson described the victory of Welcome Dream as a “nice surprise” after the three-year-old broke his maiden at the ninth attempt in the ARN Network Handicap, over 1200metres.
Ridden by Pat Dobbs, he made good use of his rail draw in one, dictating from the front, and never looking like being passed, beating Barq Al Emrat by just under five lengths.
“The one draw was very important, I thought, but I had plenty of horse to hold my position,” said Dobbs. “He showed a lot of speed and stayed well to the line and I struggled to pull him up. He’ll get further.”
Trainer Michael Costa was a notable absentee due to illness but would surely have been feeling a little better after Alsayel scampered home in the Phi Advertising Maiden, over 1600metres.
The City Of Light colt had been a promising second on debut and built on that here under Ben Coen. He took the lead, went four lengths clear in the straight and had enough in reserve to hold off the fast-finishing School Of Art.
“They put him under pressure early; probably out of his comfort zone a little bit, but as soon as another horse joined him coming to the line he picked up again and was nice and competitive,” said Johanne Taylor, Assistant Trainer.
“We’ll see what his rating goes to. It would be nice to take him through the grades and build his confidence.”
Meydan Racecourse is in action again next Friday, 13 December, when the G2 Madjani Stakes is the feature race.