First Winter On Carnival Radar

The Dubai World Cup Carnival beckons for First Winter, who continued the success of two weeks ago with an even more impressive win at Dubai Creek Harbor by Emaar Handicap in the 2000m on grass – one of the highlights of the eight-race card at Meydan Racecourse am Sunday.

The six-year-old, ridden by Ray Dawson for Ahmad Bin Harmash, worked his way into the competition early on the straight and, when called, cleared at the 300 meter mark, opening a three and three quarters lead over the hat. Trick search saree dubai.

“He was probably a little fresh for his first two runs,” said Dawson, whose mount is now likely to reach the 90 or higher rating required for the carnival after winning here with an 88. “But last time everything went according to plan and he was probably a bit fitter today. They did a good canter early on which is key for this boy as he can be very eager. He’s on his way up.

“I’m happy for Ahmad and the team. The shipyard is doing very well at the moment.”

There was a surprise at the subsequent Rashid Yachts and Marina Cup when Abshrek got back to winning ways, upsetting Godolphin’s hot favorite Sense Of Power, who dropped to eleventh place.

Ridden by Oscar Chavez, Abshrek, a first winner here two starts ago but beaten by 14 lengths last time out, led from the start in the 1400m turf handicap and seemed hard to push back as the field swung home. That’s how it turned out, and he crossed the finish line three-quarters of a length ahead of the late-closing Perfect Love.

“I was told to remember that he has a tendency to prone, so I made sure I could give him a breather,” Chavez said after his 14th win of the season. “He got back to me nicely and when we turned home he gave me an extra gear. He was fantastic today.”

Previously there was a double for Brazilian jockey Bernardo Pinheiro, who won the opening tournament of the Valley by Emaar Purebred Arabians’ Conditions at Najm Al Wathba for trainer Majed Al Jahoori. The four-year-old won by 12.5 lengths on his last start in Al Ain and dominated there too, going down the straight by a narrow margin and extending it to 2.5 lengths at the finish line.

Pinheiro was back in the Winner’s Enclosure two races later when filly Noor Bano won the 1400 meters on grass in her fifth attempt at the Emaar Beachfront Maiden. The Ismail Mohammed-trained three-year-old had twice finished third in sprint races at the Carnival but quickly pounced on the leaders with 400m to go and looked good, winning by a header against Silent Defense while Kal Barg was third.

“My only concern was that she ran seven stadia for the first time, went around the turn for the first time and she’s just a little filly who only ran nine days ago,” said Pinheiro. “I rode her very confidently when she ran a great race the last two times at the carnival.”

Mickael Barzalona and Salem Bin Ghadayer fell a few rungs from their Classic victory on Friday, but all winners count and Made In Dubai was overdue to win the Arabian Ranches from Emaar Maiden.

The four-year-old had been placed in five of his previous ten starts but cheek pieces could have made a difference here as he traveled remarkably far behind the leaders and soon knocked out Kefaaf to win by three quarters of a length.

Lake Causeway needed 20 starts to break his maiden but the Bhupat Seemar-trained gray now has two wins on his resume after continuing his success in Abu Dhabi at Emaar Handicap’s Dubai Hills Estate over 1400 meters on dirt.

Ridden by Antonio Fresu, the gray snuck through a gap in the rail on the hometurn and stayed well on his task of defeating the struggling Triple Venture by a neck.

“This horse is pretty consistent and has always raced well,” said Fresu. “He probably got more confident after he broke his maiden. The pace was pretty fast and I wasn’t really going well but I had a good draw so I was able to gain some ground around the corner and then was lucky enough to get the gap. He gained weight very well and kept fighting.”

Fresu continued on a Treble whose middle stage came on Branwell who won the sixth race at Downtown Dubai of Emaar Handicap over 2200 meters on dirt. A hard-fought race featured three current course winners in the line-up, but Branwell joined leaders True Accolade 300 yards from home and extended the win two lengths ahead of Alhzeem.

It was Branwell’s second win since joining Musabbeh Al Mheiri and Fresu was impressed, saying: “Last time I was actually disappointed as maybe it didn’t work out on the pitch. I was just behind the pace today and he traveled beautifully behind them. He’s still improving and hopefully he can give us more.”

Fresu and Al Mheiri also won the last as Law Of Nature took his second local race, but only since November 2021. Pulled 12th on the 1800m turf by Emaar Handicap Burj Khalifa, he was able to with a sustained run to the outside come the field and beat Capla Crusader by a length and a half.

Meydan Racecourse is back in action on Friday 24th February for the eighth meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.