Salute The Soldier’s Super Saturday Salute
Salute The Soldier became the first horse to win two editions of the Gr1 Maktoum Challenge R3 (sponsored by Emirates Airline), rewinding the years in Super Saturday’s $450,000 Meydan feature.
The eight-year-old, ridden by Adrie de Vries for Fawzi Nass, was dragged wide in 10th place and failed to take his usual lead as First Constitution took the field through the 2000m dirt course. After homecoming, the favorite Bendoog sailed home, but Salute The Soldier soon emerged big on his outside and didn’t stop, propelling to a double win, the tenth of his long career.
Happy Connections perform Salute The Soldier in (Image – DRC)
“We drove fast and I was happy with my draw on the outside,” said de Vries. “I followed James [Doyle, on Bendoog] as I felt he had the horse to beat. I gave him a nice breather on the turn and it took him a while to catch up, but he seems to have a lot more stamina now and he made it look easy in the end.
“He wasn’t the same last season for whatever reason, but the team did a great job to get him back to his old form.”
Salute The Soldier’s connections, who were rated 111 points ahead of this race, are hoping for another invite to the $12m Dubai World Cup where he finished fifth in 2021.
Watch the replay here:
It was a night to remember for owners Victorious, Nass and de Vries, who 35 minutes earlier won the listed Al Bastakiya as Go Soldier Go went from last to first in a stunningly close win.
Southern Artist and Ami Please returned home at the 1900m dirt event in preparation for the G2 UAE Derby. As they got tired, Mr. Raj and Go Soldier Go rushed close to the finish and the latter stole the win by a narrow margin.
It was the second win in the race for trainer Nass, who also took it in 2014 with Asmar while his jockey won it for the first time.
“It needs time to get going, although it has traveled well,” de Vries said. “I got stuck behind beaten horses so I had to rush him a bit but he has a lot of stamina.
“Once he came out of the kickback he accelerated really well. I just have to ride him the same way [in the Gr2 UAE Derby] and see if they go fast enough.”
Go Soldier Go, a son of Tapiture, is a graduate of the first Dubai Breeze-up auction, having previously completed the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
The Dubai World Cup Meeting takes place on Saturday 25th March. Look forward to a lot.
