Matterhorn and Barney Roy star on Super Saturday card

Three weeks out from the world’s richest race day, the $35 million Dubai World Cup, Super Saturday proved a night of super performances for horses hoping to earn their way onto the big stage in 21 days.

Chief among those were one-sided victories on the turf by Godolphin’s Barney Roy in the Group 1 $400,000 Jebel Hatta and a course record-setting romp from W C Racing’s Doug O’Neill-trained Wildman Jack in the Group 3 $350,000 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint.

The card kicked off with an inspired performance by Al Bayraq Stable’s Emblem Storm, who was ridden confidently by Oisin Murphy for trainer Satish Seemar, flaunting a stamina-laden pedigree with a stalk-and-pounce performance that ended with a one-two finish for Zabeel Racing Stables. Tuz, whose only starts previously had been in Russia, finished a fine second for Seemar in his local debut. The winner was 1¼ lengths clear at the wire in a time of 1:58.06—just.01 off the stakes record, but far from Mendelssohn’s 1:55.18 course record.

Seemar came right back with another one-two finish in the Group 3 $350,000 Mahab Al Shimaal for dirt sprinters, with Nasir Askar’s Wafy closing resolutely under Tadhg O’Shea to best stablemate Leading Spirit by three parts of a length. Spending most of the running near the rear of the field, the blue-blooded son of Dubawi and 1000 Guineas (G1) winner Ghanaati allowed the breakneck pace of stablemate and favourite Bochart and Nine Below Zero to collapse in front of him before running on late and winning his second race in a couple weeks. He is now undefeated on dirt following his Jebel Ali win on UAE bow, Feb. 21.

W C Racing’s Wildman Jack blitzed the track record for 1200m on grass in the $350,000 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint (G3), finishing up in 1:07.61 in nearly gate-to-wire fashion under Fernando Jara. The win was American trainer Doug O’Neill’s third of the 2020 DWC Carnival and the first American win on grass in Dubai history. The final margin was nearly five lengths back to Ekhtiyaar, also runner-up in 2019. The son of two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Goldencents—who was also campaigned by his owner—won for the third time in seven lifetime starts.

Dirt milers took to the stage in the $350,000 Burj Nahaar (G3), but it was a horse making his dirt debut who won impressively in Fawzi Nass-trained Salute the Soldier, who stalked and pounced under Adrie de Vries en route to a 5½-length win. Well-regarded G3 winner Axelrod rallied for second, while the ever-consistent Secret Ambition ran on well to be third a length astern him. A high-spirited German-bred son of Sepoy, the 5-year-old won for the sixth time in 16 starts, finishing up the 1600m in 1:37.27.

The first Group 1 of the season was Jebel Hatta, which carries a $400,000 purse. The 1800m affair became a showcase for the skills of trainer Charlie Appleby, as his Godolphin blue-clad team finished first, second and third with Barney Roy besting mare Magic Lily and hard-trying Spotify. The final margin was 1¾ lengths, but the multiple G1 winner was leagues the best and goes into the $6 million Dubai Turf sponsored by DP World (G1) as one of the horses to beat. William Buick was aboard, finishing up in 1:46.09, a new stakes record.

Appleby said: “From that draw in 12, we decided we would have to ride him for luck. The horse has not made that easy for William, but that was a great ride in the circumstances. The horse is just so enthusiastic and keen to get on with things, but once William had him on an even keel in the straight, he was always going to win. He will go to the Dubai Turf and Magic Lily may do so, as well. She has had a brilliant year at Meydan. Spotify had run very well also.”

Group 1 action continued in the $600,000 Al Maktoum Challenge R3, which was a tour de force for Matterhorn, donning the light blue of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and ridden by Mickael Barzalona for trainer Salem bin Ghadayer. In just his second dirt try, the son of Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Raven’s Pass went fast early and was too much for them late, holding off Military Law by 5½ lengths. Mark of Approval was another 2½ lengths back in third. The final time was 2:04.44 and the winner won for the ninth time from 22 starts.

The finale was the $350,000 Dubai City of Gold (G2) for horses with $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) dreams in three weeks and was won in determined fashion by Godolphin’s Loxley by a head over heavily favoured Defoe.