By Duane Fonseca -
Elmalka goes from last to first in the 1000 Guineas
UAE Champion owner Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s fine form continued in Britain with the Roger Varian-trained Elmalka finding traction late to win the 1000 Guineas under Silvestre de Sousa at Newmarket on Sunday.
Victory for the Kingman filly, a half length behind in third in the G3 Dubai Duty Free Stakes (Fred Darling Stakes) at Newbury two weeks ago on her last start, brought up a Guineas double for the UAE after Notable Speech’s success in the 2000 Guineas for Godolphin, Charlie Appleby and William Buick on Saturday.
It was a second Classic success for the colours of Sheikh Ahmed, who won the 2001 renewal with Ameerat.
After dwelling the start, Elmalka and De Sousa were forced to make their bid from last. Star Style and Darnation jumped best, with the former, trained by Richard Hannon, taking on pace setting duties under Pat Dobbs.
Star Style failed to keep the momentum going and ran out of steam with a quarter of the 1600m contest left to run, leaving the door open for Christopher Head’s French raider Ramatuelle to take over. Aurelien Lemaitre, riding Ramatuelle, seemed to have the race wrapped up 400m out as the pair were well clear, but after Ylang Ylang and Porta Fortuna started to apply the pressure, Elmalka emerged along the standside rail to run on and deny Porta Fortuna by a neck in the final strides.
Porta Fortuna was second for Donnacha Aidan O’Brien and Tom Marquand, with Ramatuelle a further short head back in third.
Elmalka’s victory brought up a first Classic success for De Sousa, who said: “It's a dream come true. It's brilliant for Roger to give me the opportunity and I'm delighted for the yard and the whole team.”
Varian, adding a first Guineas honour to his CV, said: “You never come into these races expecting to win. I wouldn't have ran her if I didn't think she'd run very well. I'm absolutely delighted and I'm thrilled for His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum as he's supported me from day one.
“I'm so thrilled to deliver him a Classic winner with this homebred filly out of Nahrain who was our first Group 1 winner back in 2011, so it's very special. I've got to thank the team who have done a great job with her and it was a great ride from Silvestre.”
