Dubai // Saeed bin Suroor roared to the top of the Dubai World Cup Carnival trainers’ standings with a treble here on Thursday night.
James Doyle, who last month was lying in a hospital bed having his appendix removed, partnered Very Special to a dominant win in the Group 2 Balanchine Stakes as his first ride back. He then followed up 35 minutes later when American Hope took the Emirates Holidays handicap.
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Doyle could not make the weight of 53kgs on Pure Diamond, who Harry Bentley steered to victory earlier in the night in the Meydan Classic.
Bin Suroor has been the Carnival’s top trainer seven times, but has trailed all season to early pace setters Doug Watson, who saddled Polar River to win the UAE Oaks, and Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
The master of Al Quoz has had to make do with an unusually small string this season, illustrated no better than by Haafaguinea in Saturday’s Dubai City Of Gold being his only runner on the glittering Super Saturday card.
Bin Suroor, who now has nine wins, treats those two impostors, defeat and victory, similarly however, and was not getting ahead of himself with all to play for Saturday and on World Cup night.
“That’s racing,” he said. “You win races and you lose races and they all happen at different times. We’re winning at the right time now though.”
Very Special had advertised her ability with a good win in the Cape Verdi a month ago and built on it in good style after Doyle took his time to track across from his wide draw in Gate 7.
Very Special assumed the lead on the bend and from there Euro Charline, the only Grade 1 winner in the field, could never reel her in under Ryan Moore.
Bin Suroor is yet to decide whether to test Very Special at the highest level in the Dubai Turf on March 26, or to aim lower and target the Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York in England in May.
If Bin Suroor needs any help deciding, he should watch Solow’s warm-up race for the defence of his Dubai Turf crown at Chantilly yesterday.
Solow overcame trouble in-running in the Prix Montjeu over a mile on a Polytrack surface to win his10th consecutive race.
It was the six-year-old grey’s seasonal debut and having been trapped for room on the rail by the classy Vadamos, jockey Maxime Guyon snatched up his mount, switched him to the outside and went on to win by a length and a half.
“It was a bit scary during the race, but he proved yet again he is such an exceptional horse,” Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager for Solow’s owners, the Wertheimer brothers, said.
“If he comes out of the race well, we will go to Dubai with him to see if he can be as good as last year.”
“Scary” was also the word used by connections of Polar River, after this season’s outstanding three-year-old horse secured her narrowest victory of her four-race career.
Polar River had sailed through the season to win her three races by an aggregate margin of 31.25 lengths. She was made to work harder than ever in the 1900-metre race, for which she received 50 entry points for the Kentucky Oaks, and at the line she had just three-quarters of a length in hand over Mike de Kock’s Argentina Grade 1 winner Vale Dori.
Although jockey Pat Dobbs always felt in control, Polar River’s win made Watson’s heart skip a beat.
“It was a little bit scary there,” he said. “We will see how she is but the UAE Derby remains the plan. I think she can run a big race.”
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