Kimbear lands Al Maktoum Challenge; Benbatl claims Singspiel Stakes

Jockey Patrick Dobbs steered Doug Watson-trained Kimbear to Group 2, 1600M $350,000 Al Maktoum Challenge glory in the second meeting -- an eight-race card event -- of the Dubai World Cup (DWC) Carnival at Meydan on Thursday.

Dobbs said: “He was very brave today. He was following (North America) and hit a flat point turning in. Then he got a second wind and stuck his head down at the line. Luckily our head was down at the line.

“His work has been exceptional at home. I didn’t think he’d get beat last time. Doug is a brilliant trainer. He knows how to get them to progress through the year. You’ve got to tip your hat to him.”

Watson said: “He ran a great race. He likes a fight. Last year was such a struggle and this year he has just done everything right. Those are two nice horses that he just finished with and we were lucky to get away with that. Pat gave him a great ride. He was fit today and his works were fantastic. He always needs that first run. I was little worried with it being three weeks back (after the Listed Dubai Creek Mile). We’ll give him a nice break now. It’s a great win for Sheikh Rashid. He bought this horse a couple years ago and last year wasn’t his year. Hopefully it is this year. I was really pleased with Muntazah. It’s tough to come back being a big heavy horse. He dug in there and finished fourth.”

Secret Ambition came second under Tadhg O’Shea, who said: “He ran very well. He’s a very tough horse.”

North America’ s jockey Richard Mullen said after finishing third: “He ran a super race, but unfortunately he did the same thing he did in the (Dubai)World Cup, where he ripped a patch of his foot and it’s bleeding pretty badly. I thought he got tired, but it was his foot and it was sore. That’s the down side to him; he has bad feet. Hopefully we can patch him up and come back with him.”

Godolphin’s Benbatl, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor and ridden by jockey Christophe Soumillon, raced to victory in Group 2, $250,000 1800m Singspiel Stakes. He defeated For The Top by a margin of 4¾ lengths in 1:45.52 minutes while Majestic Mambo finished third.

Soumillon said: “He went to the front really easily. I was quite surprised to see someone chasing me turning (into the stretch) because the pace was quite good; wasn’t too slow.

“I was like, ‘what’s going on here,’ but then my horse had a good blow. He really dominated the race. It was a good run for him,” he added.

Soumillon continued: “He always runs good fresh, but it’s nice to build on this and get him as fit as possible for the big race.

“To be honest, it wasn’t the best lesson for a horse to have him in the front as the big favourite, you take some risks, but today was like a morning gallop on his own. Next time, if he has a chance to get cover, it’ll be better for him. Today he was the best horse in the field and probably Dubai at the moment,” he concluded.

Trainer Suroor said: “He ran really well. I’m happy with him. He showed plenty of speed and was travelling really good. It didn’t matter about the ground.

“The way he finished his race made me really happy. He was around 90 per cent (fit). There could be options (for him).”

Mickael Barzalona, Jockey of second-placed FOR THE TOP, said: “We are very pleased with the way the horse ran. It was the first time in the UAE, we got a lovely position and my horse travelled good.

“Then he was a bit lost in the beginning of the straight, but then he got confident and came back towards the horse in front of him. We are very pleased with second place.”

Dane O’Neill, jockey of third-placed Majestic Mambo, said: “It wasn’t run to suit him and he’s been off a long time. We would have preferred a stronger gallop, obviously, like everyone else, but I thought it was a good starting point.

“He’s a big horse, probably 17 hands and he’ll need that to tighten him up. We managed to secure a place and he should come on from this. I think we can take a lot of positives from this and hopefully if he builds on that he can chase the winner home again and narrow the gap,” he concluded.

Satish Seemar-trained Commanding, under jockey Richard Mullen won the $100,000 1600m UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Stakes to hand owner Nasir Askar success on Thursday.

He got better of Al Modayar by a short head in a photo finish in 1:39.69 minutes while third place went to Dark Of Night.

Mullen said: “He’s a smashing horse and he felt like it was his first ever run and was uncoordinated. He’s such a big horse and was on the wrong lead around the turn. He was lugging in and just felt like he hadn’t had two runs.

“I think that’s a good thing going forward. He is still learning about the game and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we maybe put some headgear on him to help him travel a bit,” added Mullen.