POINT LEAVES IT LATE AS APPLEBY EXTENDS FINE DUBAI MILLENNIUM RUN

By Sam Turner Warren Point brought up a ‘magnificent seven’ in the Dubai Millennium Stakes for trainer Charlie Appleby as his domination of the Group 3 feature extended to a seventh consecutive success at the exasperation of British counterpart Jamie Osborne. Victory for the grandson of Dubai Millennium was anything but straightforward as rider Mickael Barzalona found his path blocked when trying to launch a challenge with 400m to run.

The gaps finally appeared for the French rider who then galvanised his mount inside the final 100m to run down the Osbornetrained Sean (Adrie de Vries) and Solid Stone (Saffie Osborne) in the shadows of the post for a last-gasp short-head win.

The defeat was an agonising reverse for Osborne to take, while victory handed Appleby a seventh successive Meydan turf victory this Carnival. “He’s a horse, as we know, that has got an engine. We saw him win in Bahrain last year before being touched off in Qatar in their big race there,” said a relieved Appleby. “He went to America and lost his way there to be honest so full credit to the team here as they’ve got him back enjoying life. “Mickael (Barzalona) rode for luck down the inside and thankfully he had the horse underneath him to get there on the line. “It’s great for the horse and for Mickael and it was also lovely for us all to win another Dubai Millennium Stakes.

‘NO IMMEDIATE PLANS’

“I’m not sure where we’ll go next with him, perhaps we might step back up to 12 furlongs for a race like the City Of Gold; that could be a decent option for him, but there’s no immediate plan.” Appleby also reflected on a lacklustre effort from the strongly-fancied New London who looked to have every chance with 200m to run before his challenge flattened out. “New London is becoming a little disappointing if I’m honest. I could see what William (Buick) was wanting to do by coming wider out so that he didn’t have to get involved in a battle down the straight. “Maybe stepping up in trip to a mile and a half or even beyond might be the answer.”