By Duane Fonseca
Charlie Appleby won the Group 2 Cape Verdi for a record equalling fifth time at Meydan Friday evening after With The Moonlight lived up to her hype with a courageous late show under William Buick to bring owners Godolphin a tenth success in the 1600m turf affair.
That was one of the two feature events on the night, the other, the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge R2, saw Simon and Ed Crisford’s Algiers franking his racecourse form by winning the 1900m run on dirt with an even better performance than his victory in the first round on the opening night of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
James Doyle was the winning jockey yet again and the 2022 Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile winner was more than content to just sit off the pace and make his move turning for home. Once Doyle set Algiers free, the 6yo Shamardal gelding, who had won the 1600m first round by six and a half lengths, stretched himself out fully to finish six clear.
Defending UAE Champion Trainer Bhupat Seemar saddled the next two in Bendoog, who placed second under Ryan Moore, and Remorse who was a further two and a half back in third under Tadhg O’Shea.
Getting back to the Cape Verdi and 4yo Frankel filly With The Moonlight needed to deprive teammate and pacesetter White Moonlight, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, with an identical five wins in the race, to win. White Moonlight seemed to have the race wrapped up in the straight, but Buick wasn’t giving up and rode hard to loom along the outside of his teammate and win by three fourths of a length. A further three and three fourths back in third was Samedi Rien for trainer Guillermo Arizkorreta and jockey Vaclav Janacek.
Zabeel Stables flexed their muscles in the 1200m dirt division yet again with Bhupat Seemar’s Tuz proving unstoppable in the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint under Jose da Silva, the 6yo Oxbow gelding winning the early battle for the pace and seeing virtually every post first to win by three lengths from Doug Watson’s Isolate, the ride of Pat Dobbs, after being eased off at the end. A further four and three fourths back in third was Freedom Fighter, also trained by Seemar, who carried Tadhg O’Shea in the saddle.
Hayyan bounced back to winning at the top level in the opening race, the PA Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge R2, which he won for trainer Majed Al Jahoori under Oscar Chavez, comfortably seeing off the rest of his rivals in the 1900m dirt affair. Musabbeh Al Mheiri’s Rajeh, the ride of Antonio Fresu, was a further three and a half behind in second, with Ahmad bin Harmash’s Barakka a further length back in third under Ray Dawson.
The inaugural running of the 2410m Vazirabad Handicap was grabbed by Appleby’s race favourite First Ruler, who justified his top billing with a strong finish in the hands of Doyle, a length keeping him ahead of David O’Meara’s Get Shirty, the ride of Daniel Tudhope.
The Appleby-Doyle combine landed a third on the night after Valiant Prince dug deep to edge forward on the line in the 1800m Group 2 Singspiel Stakes on turf. The 5yo Dubawi gelding won by a short head from Alfareeq, trained by Al Mheiri and ridden by Dane O’Neill, with Appleby’s Ottoman Fleet a further length and a quarter back in third under Buick.
O’Neill was rewarded in the final race of the night, The Valley, a 1600m handicap on turf he won with rookie handler Ali Al Badwawi’s Moqtarreb, who battled Jamie Osborne’s Saffie Osborne ridden Ouzo hard in the straight to poke home first. Moqtarreb finished with three fourths to spare, with Zainhom a further length back for Al Mheiri and Fresu.
