Heavy Metal hits the high notes at Meydan
dubai — Meydan Racecourse staged, undoubtedly, their best races of the season on Thursday evening, with three Listed Thoroughbred races as well as the Madjani Stakes for Purebred Arabians, a press release said.
The Dubai Creek Mile Sponsored By Lincoln Continental was dominated from start-to-finish by Heavy Metal, who was never headed under Royston Ffrench. Wellfancied Doug Watson trainee Cosmo Charlie faded to fourth after being unable to keep pace with his front-running and ultimately victorious foe.
“He is a tough horse and once we were able to get that lead, without working too hard, he was always going to be hard to peg back. Normally he needs a couple of runs to get going, so for him to win first time out this season has to be a positive,” Ffrench said.
The second of the big races on the card was the 2000m The Entisar which was won emphatically by Etijaah. Settled in third throughout the early stages, jockey Dane O’Neill was able to pull out and set
He is a tough horse and once we were able to get that lead, without working too hard, he was always going to be hard to peg back Royston Ffrench
sail for home turning into the straight, ultimately dominating his foes, including Godolphin Mile (G2) and stablemate Second Summer. “The 2000m is probably his ideal trip and he seems to relish the kickback when in behind so everything was ideal tonight,” O’Neill said.
The Garhoud Sprint Sponsored By Lincoln Navigator was also won by O’Neill, this time with the ageless Ali Rashid Al Rayhi-trained Muarrab, a previous winner of the Group 1 Golden Shaheen, which he landed in 2016.
The meeting opened with the only Purebred Arabian race on the card, The Madjani Stakes Sponsored By Lincoln over 1900m. It was won, in style, by Mawahib, who won her third race in a row at as many racecourses. Tadhg O’Shea always looked confident in midfield on the filly before making smooth progress to lead early in the straight.
“She is a nice filly who we know goes well on dirt having won previously at both Sharjah and Al Ain. She had a very light weight here but that is her fourth race already this season so we will now give her a small break before finding her next race,” trainer Eric Lemartinel said,
The Lincoln MKC Trophy, a 1400m maiden, appeared to be contested at a ferocious early gallop but One Season, always at the head of affairs, maintained his early exertions to record victory over Hucklebuck.
Ridden by Antonio Fresu for Satish Seemar, he was probably never headed and the jockey said: “The Seemar team told me to go forward because this horse has natural early speed, so I was keen to do so. He has not run before and was still a bit green but performed very well. It was all very new to him. He was looking at the big screen and taking it all in, so you would hope he is only going to improve.”
The Lincoln MKX Trophy, a 2000m maiden, was won in decent style by Mr. Ali A. Aneizi’s Street of Dreams, always prominent under Pat Dobbs for Doug Watson. Having just his fourth career start, it was a deserved win after one good outing in the UK and two previous placed efforts in the UAE.
“He is a nice horse and has been running well over 1600m but we knew this 2000m trip would really suit him,” Watson said.
The Lincoln MKZ Trophy, a 1600m handicap finale on the card, was won with an impressive late kick by Al Alawi Racing Syndicate’s Helal Al Alawi-trained Sea Skimmer. A lightly raced son of super-sire Dubawi, he closed well to pip Flashy Snapper and win his second race from four career starts.