Al Mheiri, Fresu lay down the Law in Military fashion by blowing away rivals in Meydan feature

By Duane Fonseca

Dubai: Musabbeh Al Mheiri and Antonio Fresu took the plaudits on the opening night of the 2021 Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan Thursday night after Military Law stormed to take the feature Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 over 1600m.

Musabbeh Al Mheiri schooled Military Law winning the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 under Antonio Fresu (ERA)

Al Mheiri said he was unsure of whether or not to run the Nasir Askar owned 6yo Dubawi gelding in the race as he felt the trip was simply too short. But he joyfully accepted being proved wrong as Fresu’s tactical riding saw the pair win by a length and a quarter from Thegreatcollection, ridden by Pat Cosgrave for Doug Watson. A further length and a quarter back in third was Fawzi Nass’ Salute The Soldier with Adrie de Vries up.

Winner of last season’s The Entisar (Listed), Military Law was second in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 that followed and finished the runner up again in the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 on Super Saturday.

Ridden in third along the rail by Fresu on Thursday, Military Law was asked to cut towards the middle as the home stretch emerged and he performed admirably going well clear before being cut back in the final 100m by Thegreatcollection.

Zabeel Stables supremo Satish Seemar enhanced his reputation as a Group 3 Dubawi Stakes specialist by winning his sixth title in eight editions of the race. With five of the nine runners in 1200m dirt sprint representing his yard, Seemar had the odds stacked in his favour and won with Switzerland, who swooped to the front in the straight under Tadhg O’Shea to win by a length and a quarter from the Doug Watson schooled Waady with Pat Dobbs up. Back in third was Switzerland’s RRR Racing teammate and race favourite Gladiator King, who won the race last year for the same connections.

British handler David O’Meara hit the ground running winning the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes over 1800m of turf with Lord Glitters, who was raced in the rear and made smooth progress under Adrie de Vries to win by three lengths from Charlie Appleby’s Zakouski with William Buick up. A further length and a half back in third was Dream Castle for Saeed bin Suroor with Pat Cosgrave up.

Godolphin conditioner Saeed bin Suroor and Frankie Dettori clinched the keenly contested Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort on 1400m of turf with Land Of Legends, who held on to beat teammate D’bai trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by James Doyle. A further three fourths back in third was Glorious Journey, also trained by Appleby, with Buick up.

Dettori doubled up in the final race on the card with Charles Hills’ Equilateral who broke well and held on to deny Al Mheiri’s Bernardo Pinheiro driven Mutaraffa with Appleby’s Lazuli taking third under Buick.

Watson scored with Golden Goal ridden by Pat Dobbs (ERA)

Red Stables boss Watson scored on his return to action after being provisionally banned on account of his stable staff testing positive for Covid-19 with Golden Goal who showed a good turn of foot to skip clear in the straight and win the opening race of the night the Al Furjan by Azizi, a 1400m handicap, by an widening three and a half lengths. Golden Goal lowered the time for said trip when clocking 1:22.69 which was nearly half a second better than the 1:23.07 set by Raven’s Corner during a handicap success in February 2018.

Charlie Appleby’s ominous form continued as he claimed a second success with his second runner of the season with Walton Street winning the turf run Listed Dubai Racing Club Classic over 2410m by a massive five lengths under William Buick in record time. The 7yo Cape Cross gelding made all and kicked clear at the top of the home stretch to win from Godolphin teammate Dubai Future, ridden by Hector Crouch for Saeed bin Suroor. A half length back in third was Ismail Mohammed’s Away He Goes ridden by Antonio Fresu. The new fast time of 2:26.83 was .02s quicker than the previous best set by one time stable companion Hawkbill when winning the 2018 Group 2 Dubai City of Gold on Super Saturday.