The Dubai Carnival opened Friday, 14 January 2022, with the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 for Purebred Arabians which was won in imperious fashion by the very exciting Bahrani-owned RB Rich Lyke Me, ridden by Dutch champion Adrie de Vries for trainer Fawzi Nass.
Quotes:
Race 1. Al Maktoum Challenge Presented By The Pointe Purse $50,000 *Purebred Arabian Group 1) 16000m (Dirt) Win Time: 1:46:48
Winner: Rb Rich Lyke Me (trained by Fawzi Nass)
Jockey. Adrie de Vries: “You can drop him in if he goes too fast. He’s not keen when he has
horse upsides him. You can decide to take him back and do whatever you want. He’s very
professional.
“I’ve heard rumours (it will be) Saudi Arabia [next]. But it’s up to Fawzi and Sheikh Nasser (bin Hamad Al Khalifa). “He seems to handle this track beautifully. Saudi is a very different surface. I don’t know what the best option is, but I’ll leave that up to Fawzi.”
Race 2. Festival City Stakes Presented By Palm West Beach
Purse: $60,000 (Thoroughbreds 3yo Only) 1200m (Dirt)
Winner: Bet Law (trained by Antonio Cintra)
Jockey Vagner Leal:
“He’s a nice horse; he has a lot of speed in the beginning and the final 400metres as well.He’s still green and we believe that he can improve further. He has more to show; we hope we have a good season with him.
“This is an amazing place. I enjoy riding here with some of the best jockeys in the world.”
Race 3 Dubai Racing Club Classic (Presented By The View At The Palm)
Purse: $ 100,000 (Thoroughbreds 4yo+ Listed) 2,400m (Turf)
Winner: Dubai Future (trained by Saeed Bin Suroor)
Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor: “The horse he always tries well. This is his best trip, a mile and a
half. He’s doing well, always working nicely in the morning.
“He has a good turn of foot and he won well by four lengths.
“I want to see how he comes out of the race but we’ll look at a Listed or Group race for him after this.”
Pat Cosgrave: “I rode him in Kempton two starts ago and he was very keen, I sort of learned
from that day. Frankie did the same in Bahrain, he over-raced then.
“I left him alone at the gates and he relaxed better today.
“The way he won today shows he ready to step into the top level.”
Race 4. Jumeirah Classic Trial (Presented By Palm Jumeirah)
Purse: $150,000 (Thoroughbreds 3yo only) 1400m (Turf)
Winner: Sovereign Prince (Trained by Charlie Appleby)
Charlie Appleby: “He did a fair bit of leading at home so he’s kind of getting used to the other horses coming past him. We felt tonight that we need to have the cheek pieces on and it’s had the desired effect.
“He’s not got the profile of some of the three year olds we’ve brought in the past but William
[Buick] rightly said he’s quite a genuine horse he stuck to his guns. They went a good gallop and William had a lovely pitch in there. As soon as the leader peeled off the rail it was a racing winning move really.
“Originally he hadn’t been in our Carnival plans because his rating wasn’t high enough but that
last race, the form of it worked out very well, and he went up the handicap ratings and he ended up being a Carnival horse.
“The nice thing about this new Jumeirah series is it gives some of these three-year-olds a chance on the turf.”
Race 5. Al Maktoum Challenge R1 (Presented By Nakheel) Group 2
Purse: $250,000 (Thoroughbreds 3yo +) 1600m (Dirt)
Winner: Golden Goal (trained by Doug Watson)
Jockey Sam Hitchcott: “Fortunately, you always have a plan in your mind and tonight it
worked out as I imagined. Tadhg (O'Shea and Secret Ambition) were bang in there and I didn’t want to give him the fence; I just forced him a little bit. We had fitness on our side. Secret Ambition is probably fit but he’s running after a long time.
“He’s [Golden Goal] been great; his work last week was fantastic, I couldn't have be happier with him.
“[The Burj Nahar and Godolphin Mile] – that’s the plan, I would imagine, but we will have a
little sit-down and discuss it. That’s the most straightforward route to go and if they keep
producing them like that they’ll be hard to beat.”
Trainer Doug Watson: “We knew after he ran in the Creek Mile that he usually needs his first
run. Most of our horses are running off an eight to nine month layoff, so I thought he'd improve tonight. He had a good draw and Sam gave him a good ride and we were able to hold off Secret Ambition.”
Race 6 Cape Verdi (Group 2) (Presented By Club Vista Mare)
Purse: $180,000 (Thoroughbred fillies & mares 3yo+ )1,600m (Turf)
Winner: Pevensey Bay (trained by Hiroo Shimizu)
Jockey Olivier Peslier: “She’s like the French horses, very tough. I know her and I know that
she has a very good turn of foot. In fact, the last two furlongs she was doing very well.
“In the last two furlongs it was very rough inside but when I came outside she changed her legs
and she showed her acceleration.”
Race 7. Dubai Dash (Presented By The Palm Fountain)
Purse: $100,000 Thoroughbreds 4yo+ Listed Stakes 1200m (Turf)
Winner: Mutaraffa (trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri)
Trainer Musabbeh Al Mheiri: “He’s a horse who has been doing a lot of good work in the morning, so we were pretty confident coming here.
“The Shadwell horses have a lot of speed and he did it rather comfortably. He’s a nice horse for the future.”
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