By Duane Fonseca
Emirati conditioner Ahmad bin Harmash could have a real live wire on his hand heading into next year’s Classics on the UAE calendar if his juvenile Flying Hunter can carry his current form into 2023. The 2yo Maclean’s Music colt he trains was absolutely on fire and lit up the steep uphill finish of the Jebel Ali Racecourse as powered to a three length win in the 1400m maiden on his first start against three others.
It can be argued the small field might have helped his cause, but Flying Hunter’s race seems to have really started in the final 600m after stablemate Mr Raj suddenly stretched the gap between himself and the rest to five or more lengths.
LAST TO FIRST
In the hands of Ray Dawson, Flying Hunter raced at the back of the field. But with a little over 400m left to run and with Dawson turning on the heat and asking serious questions, Flying Hunter knuckled down and started to consume ground faster than anyone else.
He gained the lead 50m out and at the post was three clear of his stablemate, who ran under the guidance of Saif Al Balushi. A further six behind Mr Raj was Lahresh for trainer Musabbeh Al Mheiri. Now it would be a matter of franking that form at least once before the Dubai World Cup Carnival gets underway in a month’s time.
Dawson said: “I had only sat on him once at home and he’s a big playful kind of boy at home. Ahmad put the blinkers on him just to keep him concentrated. Hopefully, he can run well. The other horse, Mr Raj, he goes well at home, but he’s a bit more of a staying type so we were probably expecting my lad to be the better one on the day. Until the last furlong, it seemed like the other way around, but it was very pleasing to see Flying Hunter run like that. Climbing the hill the way he did was very encouraging.”
