YORK, England // Jim and Fitri Hay’s Glass Office sprang a huge surprise in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes over 1,200 metres here on Wednesday.
The grey was an intended runner in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan on World Cup night in March won by Sole Power but was balloted out.
Dubai’s loss was the Knavesmire’s gain, and the five year old edged a photo finish with Mattmu, who is two years his junior.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Muthmir was fourth under Paul Hanagan, while Godolphin’s new recruit Lightning Moon never looked competitive and finished a laboured seventh for William Buick.
Glass Office was seventh on his seasonal bow at Newmarket 12 days ago, but that was his first run since he was sixth in Dubai 14 months ago.
“He was entitled to come on for his first run,” said Jim Hay, the Dubai-based businessman. “He will go to Royal Ascot now for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.”
Trainer David Simcock put more flesh on the bones.
“I don’t care how much work I could have put into him, he was never going to be ready first time,” he said.
“It was just a question of getting him back on track and getting a run into him and the freshness out of him.”
It was a similar story for Muthmir, who was having his first run since breaking the track record after stumbling out of the gate in a handicap at Doncaster in September.
“He was always going to need that run,” said Angus Gold, Sheikh Hamdan’s racing manager. “It was his first day back at school and in the circumstances I think he ran well.”
Gold said that Muthmir will require another outing before lining up in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, and a Listed event at Haydock at the end of the month has been pencilled in.
Earlier in the afternoon Sheikh Hamdan’s Mahsoob put down a marker for Royal Ascot with an impressive victory in an extended 2,000-metre handicap.
Mahsoob was in second-last place in the field of 18 runners before coming with a surging run to chase down Silvestre de Sousa on Master Of Finance and Godolphin’s First Flight, ridden by James Doyle.
It was a third win in as many runs for the son of Dansili, the sire who was also trained by John Gosden, and the four-year-old colt looks destined for much greater things.
He has entries in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next month over 2,000 metres, but the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes over 400 extra metres looks more likely.
“He’s still learning. The penny hasn’t fully dropped, and he’ll come on from that again,” Hanagan said.
“He wasn’t the best away, but I didn’t want to rush him. We went a nice gallop and got racing quite a long way out. As everyone knows, York is a track that suits front-runners, so he’s done it extra well.”
Gosden secured a double on the card when Frankie Dettori partnered Star Of Seville to win the Group Three Musidora Stakes, a traditional prep race for the English Oaks next month.
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