Charlie Appleby | Horse Racing Free Tips

Family Affair For ‘Royal’ in Dubai Millennium

It was a Godolphin exacta in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. at Meydan on Friday as Royal Fleet (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), a paternal grandson of the race's namesake, defeated last year's winner Star Safari (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) by a short head.

Away without incident, which could not be said for the slow-starting Lucius Tiberius (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the Charlie Appleby trainee was aggressive as the field left the short chute and found an ideal position in a pressing second as Marie's Diamond (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) cut out the early running. In a good rhythm, Royal Fleet stayed just off the flank of the pacesetter as the field tackled the bend and, once given an inch of rein from pilot James Doyle, surged up to apply some pressure to Marie's Diamond. The latter was noticeably lathered, and Royal Fleet stuck his head in front at the quarter-mile pole as the well-fancied Star Safari came with his run from farther back.

Confronted by his stablemate 200 metres from home, Royal Fleet proved dour and although headed, fought on with his rival appearing to have his measure. A few jumps from the line, he edged back in front to claim the victory. Castlebar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who'd had to alter course for racing room when making his bid, ran on to take third 2 1/4 lengths back.

A winner of his first three starts including the July 10 Mile H. at Newmarket, the Godolphin colourbearer lost his unbeaten record with a fifth in the Skybet Mile H. at York later that summer, but rebounded to take a Doncaster handicap by a half-length on Sept. 11. Gelded shortly thereafter, he ran with credit to be second in both the Jan. 21 G2 Al Rashidiya and the Feb. 11 G2 Singspiel S., prior to Friday's victory.

Pedigree Notes

Royal Fleet is the 222nd black-type winner and 145th group winner for his Darley sire Dubawi, who counts 48 Group 1 winners among them. Bred on the same cross as G1 Pretty Polly S. heroine Nezwaah (GB), the winner is the third foal and third winner out of G3 Prix de Lieurey heroine Zibelina. Royal Fleet is followed by his winning 3-year-old full-brother Noble Order (Ire) and a yearling colt by Blue Point (Ire).

Also a winner of the Listed Valiant S., Zibelina is a half-sister to black-type winner Floristy (GB) (Fasliyev), the dam of three-time group winner Lazuli (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and stakes winner Inspiriter (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Third dam Talented was just that, striking in the Sun Chariot S. when it was still a Group 2 and also placing in the G3 Lancashire Oaks, G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Prix de la Nonette. At stud, she threw Epsom Derby third Carlton House (Street Cry {Ire}), who raced in the colours of Her Majesty The Queen to wins in the G2 Dante S. and G3 Brigadier Gerard S. besides another trio of Group 1 placings in the UK and Down Under.

Friday, Meydan, Middle East
DUBAI MILLENNIUM S. (PRESENTED BY LINCOLN)-G3, $150,000, Meydan, 2-25, NH4yo/up & SH4yo/up, 2000mT, 2:01.61, gd.
1–ROYAL FLEET (GB), 129, g, 4, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Zibelina (Ire) (GSW-Fr, SW-Eng, $105,891),
                                by Dansili (GB)
2nd Dam: Zaeema (GB), by Zafonic
3rd Dam: Talented (GB), by Bustino (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-Godolphin (GB);
T-Charlie Appleby; J-James Doyle. $90,000. Lifetime Record:
8-5-2-0, $231,855. *1/2 to Royal Crusade (GB) (Shamardal),
GSP-Eng, GSW-Fr, SP-UAE, $143,240. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
   *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Star Safari (GB), 130, g, 6, Sea the Stars (Ire)–Intimhir (Ire),
by Muhtathir (GB). (€200,000 Ylg '17 BBASEP). O-Godolphin;
B-Gestut Brummerhof (GB); T-Charlie Appleby. $30,000.
3–Castlebar (Ire), 129, g, 4, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Aimhirgin Lass
(Ire), by Pivotal (GB). 1ST BLACK-TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK-
   TYPE. (€460,000 Ylg '19 GOFOCT). O-Fahad Mohammed
Aloraini; B-Irish National Stud (IRE); T-Helal Alalawi. $15,000.
Margins: SHD, 2 1/4, 1HF.
Also Ran: Burgas (Tur), Marie's Diamond (Ire), Integrant (Fr), Lucius Tiberius (Ire), Iron Butterfly (Swe), Volcanic Sky (GB), Al Maysan (GB), Pensiero d'Amore (Ire), Big Team.
Click for the Racing Post chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video.

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Friday’s Preview: Godolphin Holds Strong Hand In Meydan Feature

With the Saudi Cup card taking top billing among this weekend's Gulf action, Friday's Dubai World Cup Carnival card at Meydan has a quieter look than its predecessors in recent weeks, with just one black-type event. Godolphin holds a strong hand in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. named for its 2000 G1 Dubai World Cup winner and contested over 2000 metres on the grass, and its four runners-two apiece for Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor-are headed on ratings by Appleby's 6-year-old Star Safari (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), the defending race winner, at 110. The €200,000 yearling made just four starts across his first three seasons on the track, but came to life last season at Meydan, winning twice from four starts including the Dubai Millennium. He went winless in three European starts last summer while picking up a third in the G2 Princess of Wales's Tattersalls S., and after finishing second in the Listed Dubai Racing Classic off the layoff on Jan. 14, bested Marie's Diamond (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) in the Listed Zabeel Turf over this course and distance on Jan. 28.

The Godolphin quartet also includes the useful Volcanic Sky (GB) (Street Cry {Ire}), who drops back in trip after a pair of thirds at Meydan to begin his campaign. Royal Fleet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) goes the other direction, stepping up to 2000 metres off a pair of Group 2 placings at Meydan over a furlong shorter. Big Team (Speightstown) makes his fourth run of the carnival, his first three having resulted in placings.

The unknown quantity of the race is the Turkish Derby winner Burgas (Tur) (King David), who has won eight of 12 starts in his native land including four local Group 1s, but he has not run since Oct. 30.

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Manobo Stays Unbeaten In Style At Meydan

Godolphin's Manobo (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) stamped himself a stayer for the future with a victory in the G2 Prix Chaudenay at ParisLongchamp in October, and the progressive 4-year-old reaffirmed that position with a stirring 5 1/2-length victory on seasonal return in Friday's G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy at Meydan to remain unbeaten in five starts.

Making his debut at Newbury last May, Manobo headed Mojo Star (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) just two weeks before that one went on to finish second to Adayar (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Derby. Manobo took a more conservative route, plundering a Kempton novice race before venturing to France to take the Listed Prix Turenne by 10 lengths prior to his Chaudenay run.

Manobo hit the finish line first time around on Friday a half-length to the good in a race where no one was keen to take up the running, but by the time they raced into the first bend he had taken a lead from Taqareer (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) despite giving a few shakes of his head as William Buick attempted to restrain him. Settling into a rhythm down the backstretch as Taqareer stole a wide early advantage, Manobo began to effortlessly cut into that lead rounding the final turn. Arriving at Taqareer's shoulder as they straightened, Manobo surged into the lead when given a shake of the reins and was never threatened thereafter, winning by an eased-down 5 1/2 lengths from Ian Williams's East Asia (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Trainer Charlie Appleby noted post-race that the G2 Dubai Gold Cup was the likely target for Manobo on the Dubai World Cup card on Mar. 26, but that he could deputise for Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in the event that anything were to go amiss with his GI Breeders' Cup Turf-winning stablemate in the ensuing weeks.

Pedigree Notes

Manobo is the second living foal and first stakes winner out of Tasaday (Nayef), who won three times at the group level and was twice Group 1 placed in France for Andre Fabre before joining Saeed bin Suroor and winning listed stakes at Meydan and York, and finishing third in the 2014 G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Her first foal was Turgenev (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who finished second in the G2 Celebration Mile. Tasaday, who is out of the dual Group 3-winning Tashelka (Fr) (Mujahid) and a half-sister to the G3 Desmond S. winner Tribal Beat (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}), has an as-yet unnamed 2-year-old colt by New Approach (Ire). It is also the family of South Africa's champion older horse Whisky Baron (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}).

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Appleby Quartet Lined Up For Saudi

Trainer Charlie Appleby is preparing a team of four for next weekend's Saudi Cup card: 3-year-olds Noble Truth (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) and Sovereign Prince (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for the G3 Saudi Derby, Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for the Red Sea Turf H. and Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for the Turf Sprint.

Noble Truth and Sovereign Prince will be trying the dirt for the first time, and Appleby said, “they have never raced on dirt before but judging by what we have seen in their gallops at home, they will have no problems handling it. They have been training on the Marmoom track in Dubai, which has a surface very similar to what they will experience in Saudi. I'm very happy the way they have been training on it.”

Noble Truth, winner of the Listed Flying Scotsman S. in September, has not raced since finishing fourth in the G3 Horris Hill S. in October. He was previously second in the G1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardere.

“He was slightly disappointing in the Horris Hill on very soft ground, but he put up such a great performance in the Lagardere [on heavy], it took the edge off him for Newbury,” said Appleby. “He was sent to Dubai in November purposely to be aimed at the Saudi Derby, and if he brings his best 2-year-old form to the race, he'll be a very live contender. He's adapted well since embarking on a more American-style training programme in Dubai since travelling over.”

Sovereign Prince, who broke his maiden at Epsom in September, is two-for-two this season at Meydan, including a most recent win in the Listed Jumeirah Classic going a mile on the turf on Feb. 4.

“He has earned his stripes following two creditable performances at Meydan,” said Appleby. “He's a typical Dubawi in strengthening and moving forward at a rate of knots as he gets more mature. He's had plenty of racing experience in the UK and Dubai.”

The 4-year-old Siskany was likewise a listed winner at Meydan last out, taking the Al Khail Trophy going a mile and six on Jan. 28.

“Siskany was a progressive middle-distance handicapper who showed marked improvement at 2800 metres,” said Appleby. “We are hoping that in stepping up to extreme trips he can take it to another level. He has come out of his last race really well, and the second and third have franked the form by being placed subsequently behind Global Storm at Meydan. We are looking to him to run a big race.”

The 4-year-old Naval Crown, who was fourth in last year's G1 2000 Guineas, looks to give his trainer back-to-back wins in the Turf Sprint, following on from Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) last year. Naval Crown returned from almost six months on the sidelines with a win in the G2 Al Fahidi Fort on Jan. 21.

“We deliberately finished his season early last year to get ready for this,” said Appleby. “He was a model of consistency as a 3-year-old and he has come back in great form. It was a nice performance to win the Al Fahidi Fort and he has come forward for that run.”

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