Special one ready for bigger battle
enbatl, a horse that his trainer Saeed Bin Surour describes as being the “special one”, earned his credibility when delivering a sparkling performance to win the Group 2 Al Rashidiya on Week 4 of the Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan yesterday.
An impressive winner of the Group 3 Singspiel Stakes a fortnight ago, the four-year-old Dubawi colt finished strongly under jockey Oisin Murphy in the 1,800-metre contest to win by nearly four lengths from Bay Of Poets, ridden by James Doyle for Charlie Appleby. The trainer also saddled the third horse home, Brave Zolo, the mount of William Buick.
All three horses raced in the colour of Carnival superpower, Godolphin, with South African raider Light The Lights fourth, ridden by Christophe Soumillon for the Carnival’s most successful international trainer, Mike de Kock.
Reflecting on the significance of Benbatl’s latest victory, Bin Surour said: “We always thought he was special ever since he won at Royal Ascot (G3 Hampton Court Stakes). As far as being excited with this victory, I’ll save it for later, as we have a lot of faith in this horse and expect there is a lot more to come from him.
Full of praise
“I guess what he did today reinforces everything that I have felt about the horse. And yes, I named him ‘Son of a Warrior’ and he’s a real fighter.”
Bin Surour indicated that the Group 1 Jebel Hatta, on Super Saturday, March 10, would be Benbatl’s next target en route to a possible start in the $6 million Dubai Turf on Dubai World Cup day.
“He will not run until then and, hopefully, will improve further for that race that we have set our sights on,” added Bin Surour.
Murphy, who has ridden Benbatl in all three of his career wins, was full of praise for the Darley-bred colt.
“I’m always afraid to overestimate horses because sometimes you can get disappointed,” said the Irishman. “But he’s bred to be a very, very good horse and he’s shaping up to be one.
“Hopefully, he continues his upward trajectory. Saeed and his team have done a very good job with him at home.
“When you’re on a good horses like him they often put in you in the perfect place in the race, because they have that ability and class,” he added.
“Don’t get me wrong he needs a few stride to get into top gear but once he does he’s a different horse altogether. He’s a really good horse.”
Earlier in the evening, racegoers at Meydan were treated to an equally exciting display from a very good looking Purebred Arabian, Barnamaj, who landed Round Two of the Al Maktoum Challenge.
Ridden by former British champion jockey Jim Crowley and trained in the UAE by Ali Rashid Al Rayhi, the son of No Risk Al Maury, scored by a head from Paddy’s Day, winner of the first round last month.
“He’s a horse who was brought here specifically for the Al Maktoum Series,” said Al Rayhi.
“He’s done it well and we will take him to the third leg [March 1]. We expect him to improve for today’s run and are very hopeful of another good performance in four weeks time.”