By Duane Fonseca
Sheikha Hissa bint Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum celebrated her first Dubai World Cup day success as Shadwell’s Team Principal and admitted to being ‘very surprised’ after Danyah outsprinted some of the best in the business to win the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on 1200m of turf. Trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri and guided by Dane O’Neill, who partnered him to victory in the slightly longer 1400m Listed Business Bay Challenge on the 2023 Dubai World Cup Carnival programme, Danyah delivered his best ever performance in the presence of Sheika Hissa, the daughter of Shadwell’s late founder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sheikha Hissa and her entourage were absolutely over the moon as the 6yo Invincible Spirit gelding dug deep under O’Neill to lead 50m out and win by a head from The Astrologist, with Godolphin’s race favourite Al Suhail a further neck back in third. “We were very surprised. I think the TV recorded how surprised we were,” Sheikha Hissa told racingtv.com.
“We’ve never run him at this distance so we didn’t know what to expect. But we wanted to test his limits and see how he does and he’s done a great job with it. Dane rode a great race.” It was a third Group One victory for the Al Mheiri-O’Neill combination, the pair landing Super Saturday’s Group 1 Jebel Hatta with Alfareeq, the win a successful title defence for trainer, jockey and horse.
“I think that (loyalty) is the most important thing. Obviously, Mussabeh is very important to us, as well as the jockeys. They've played a great role in making sure the horses are at their best and I like to hear their opinion. It's a team effort,” Sheikha Hissa added. “He is one of those trainers who just seems to have that little bit of magic about him.
He’s done a great job with this horse and been very patient with him.” Speaking of attending the Dubai World Cup card, Sheikha Hissa added: “I'm here with my family actually. We always love to come to the Dubai World Cup. We did not have a winner last year, but we had them on Super Saturday. So it’s great that we have had one today.”
