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HITCHCOTT DREAMING BIG WITH PRINCE EIJI

HITCHCOTT DREAMING BIG WITH PRINCE EIJI Feb 2, 2023

By Duane Fonseca

Sam Hitchcott was quick to compare Prince Eiji to One Man Band after partnering the former to a rather straightforward victory in the Group 3 Firebreak Stake, the feature event of last Friday’s Dubai World Cup Carnival programme at Meydan. Hitchcott partnered One Man Band to one of the biggest prizes of his career, the Group 2 Godolphin Mile, the son of Pivotal leading in a 13-2- for trainer Doug Watson.

And there were parallels Friday night too with Hitchcott’s ride ushering in stablemates Everfast and Thegreatcollection, the rides of Pat Dobbs and Adrie de Vries, respectively. And Hitchcott did not need to be drawn into looking for similarities after he cleverly tracked the pace running along the outside of the pacesetting Ever Given, who turned for home in front, but found himself outpaced as soon as the rail straightened.

A 7yo Dubawi gelding, Prince Eiji did not need much coaxing and flew home chased in vain by his stable companions, winning by a length and a quarter from Everfast with Thegreatcollection a further half length back in third. “I won the 2016 Godolphin Mile with One Man Band and this one (Prince Eiji) is quite similar to him: a natural athlete, who can do everything very easily and he’s got that sort of potential,” Hitchcott told Adiyat Racing Plus.

Prince Eiji won the Listed Dubai Creek Mile on his seasonal bow before taking fifth behind Algiers in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 on the opening night of the carnival and is now expected to run Super Saturday in the Group 3 Burj Nahaar, the course and distance prep for the Godolphin Mile. Hitchcott added: “He showed what he’s capable of there.

It was a difficult decision for Pat [Dobbs] to ride Everfast but I learned a lot from riding this horse last time [Al Maktoum Challenge R1]. He's very natural when it comes to switching his leads, which is what you need on the dirt.” Watson added: “This is super for Sheikh Obaid. He’s given me a lot of nice horses and this might be our first Group winner for him.

Hopefully, there’s a couple more to come so we’ll see. I would say it would be Super Saturday next with him, but we’ll just talk to Sheikh Obaid and see where he wants to go next and take it from there. “We thought of stretching him. I believe he’s won an 1800m or run very well in an 1800m group race, but right now the logical place is the Super Saturday and then he’ll run on Dubai World Cup night too.”


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