Day of frustration for Godolphin at Newmarket

A wet Newmarket sees Discourse and Lyric Of Light flop in the English 1000 Guineas.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, with Princess Haya of Jordan at Newmarket. Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

Godolphin capped a disappointing few days for UAE racing when Discourse and Lyric Of Light finished at the back of the field in the English 1000 Guineas yesterday.

The pair lined up in the first fillies' Classic of the British season unbeaten and were considered a threat to Aidan O'Brien's heavily-fancied Maybe but Lyric Of Light came last, with Discourse beating only her stablemate home.

O'Brien, who won Saturday's 2000 Guineas with Camelot, took the spoils with Homecoming Queen, who won by nine lengths under Ryan Moore, while Maybe lost out to Starscope for second.

Newmarket had received over six inches of rain since the beginning of April, and with further rain falling before racing few horses got into the contest as Homecoming Queen shot out of the stalls and never saw another horse.

Both Lyric Of Light and Discourse suffered interference in the early stages, but it was the going that scuppered their chances.

Frankie Dettori reported that Lyric Of Light had struggled to get through the ground but trainer Mahmoud Al Zarooni, the trainer, was nonplussed at the performance of his fillies.

"I have no idea what happened," he said. "Lyric Of Light didn't seem to cope with the ground and Mickael Barzalona said that Discourse just ran flat. She didn't seem to fire at all."

Mashoora, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid was 12th.

Earlier in the day the Dubai-based organisation saw all their hard work to get Khawlah back on to a racecourse go to waste as the 2011 UAE Derby winner struggled on her first start since that victory at Meydan Racecourse.

Khawlah was the first filly to win the Derby, having previously won the UAE Oaks, but she could not handle the downhill section of the track and also finished last.

Her trainer Saeed bin Suroor had elected to go to Hong Kong, however, to supervise African Story's challenge in the BMW Champions Mile, won by Xtension.

It was futile journey for the trainer as his Dubai Duty Free winner never threatened and came sixth due to a lack of pace. Hong Kong horses filled the first five places. Mike de Kock's Musir was seventh while, Cityscape, the Dubai Sheema Classic winner, was 10th.

"The slow early pace did not suit African Story," bin Suroor said. "He had a good position in the race and finished well but he would have been much better with a stronger pace from the start."

On Saturday night Alpha, Godolphin's great hope in the Kentucky Derby, kicked off proceedings by finishing closer to the back of the field than the front.

The Darley-bred colt got agitated pre-race at Churchill Downs and never got into the race won by I'll Have Another, who edged out Bob Baffert's Bodemiester.

"It's disappointing. He really kind of lost it in the paddock," Keiran McLaughlin, Godolphin's American trainer said. "I felt like he was really hot and bothered. It's tough on horses, the preliminary stuff. He was great in the gate, but he did get very hot and just ran dull. Not a good effort."

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