International raiders enjoyed a stellar afternoon at Meydan Racecourse’s tenth Dubai Racing Carnival meeting of the season last Friday.
United Kingdom based trainer Ed Walker claimed victory in the feature race, with Fort George producing a gritty performance to win the Group 3 Dubai Millennium Stakes.
The four-year-old was rated as a 9/1 shot on the horse racing betting sites featured on comparison platform arabswin.com, and prevailed by a nose ahead of Arabian Light.
Jockey Kieran Shoemark was forced to work hard during the final furlong, but the horse showed plenty of determination to secure a narrow victory.
“I’m thrilled,” he said. “Ed Walker sent two horses over here and they’re both winners. Eloise who has been looking after them has done a brilliant job.
“Fort George has really improved since he’s been over here. We thought we would change it up a little this time as he has a habit of being slowly out of the gates and I was further back than ideal last time, so the plan was to try and slide forward.
“He showed a willing attitude in the closing stages as I think Arabian Light went three quarters of a length up on us, but he battled hard. I think he could step back up in trip again – he’s pretty versatile.”
<h2>Title Role Hits the Bookmakers Hard</h2>
Trainers Simon and Ed Crisford were on the mark in the Jumeirah Guineas Trial as the highly-regarded Title Role triumphed by a length and a quarter in.
The Coolmore-owned colt went off as the 5/4 favourite and never gave his supporters a moment’s worry as he fended off a late challenge from Sword Maker.
Jockey James Doyle rode a well-judged race aboard the Too Darn Hot colt, and the combination could be a good bet to follow up on their next outing at Meydan.
“The slow pace did suit him, as the little worry was going up in trip,” Doyle said. “He was the one to beat so the guys were happy to follow me rather than pitch me out, which was nice.
“I wanted to go as slow as I could for as long as I could before I let him go and then he ran home well. The way he galloped through the line and galloped out suggests this trip is no problem at all.”
The Crisford team completed a double in the penultimate race on the card when Telemark recorded his second win of the season in the DP World Logistics Handicap.
William Buick rode a patient race aboard the five-year-old in the middle of the pack before unleashing a powerful late run to overhaul Mount Kosciuszko on the line.
Telemark has now won two of his three starts in the Middle East and may be worth following during the rest of the Dubai Racing Carnival.
<h2>Father & Daughter Team Make Their Mark in Dubai</h2>
Trainer and jockey duo Jamie and Saffie Osborne delivered another blow to the bookmakers by claiming victory in the final race on the card.
The Fingal Raven arrived late on the scene to win the closing Dubai Auto Market Handicap, rewarding punters who made him the 11/4 favourite to emerge victorious.
The four-year-old finished fourth in a hot seven-furlong handicap at Meydan in early January and demonstrated the value of that form with a strong finish over a mile.
“I’m just very grateful that Dominic (Griffiths) and David (Kavanagh), his owners, have been so patient with him as we’ve always thought a lot of him, so it’s great it’s finally come to fruition,” Saffie Osborne said.
“We always had faith that he might turn into a Group horse one day. He’s quite a quirky horse – in the past he’s sometimes run too keen – and dad’s team have done a great job of getting him to settle down.
“He has a wicked turn of foot for a horse over this trip and it’s nice to see it put to good use today.”
