Godolphin Exacta As English Rose Becomes Frankel’s Newest Stakes Winner

Godolphin and Frankel (GB) were represented by the first two home in the AED850,000 G2 Balanchine Presented by Longines at Meydan on Friday. His ENGLISH ROSE (IRE) (f, 4, –Sobetsu {GB}, by Dubawi {Ire}) was 2 1/2 lengths to the good of the more fancied Sapphire Seas (GB) at the end of the 1800-metre turf affair. The final time was 1:47.64 over the good turf. The winner had more left in the late stages and pounced in midstretch, with Nibras Angel (GB) (Harry Angel {Ire}) punching home third.
O/B-Godolphin. T-Charlie Appleby.

 

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Appleby Aiming For Consecutive Singspiels At Meydan

The AED850,000 1800-metre G2 Singspiel S. presented by Longines is the headliner among five stakes races on Meydan's nine-race Friday card.

Godolphin runs three from the Charlie Appleby yard, and the reinvigorated Ottoman Fleet (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is coming into the race off two consecutive seconds in the December's G2 Al Rashidia and January's G1 Jebel Hatta to stablemate Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}). He is joined by multiple stakes winner Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Highland Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“Ottoman Fleet probably brings the most consistent form over the course and distance into what looks a competitive race,” said Appleby. “It was always the plan to come here following a strong run in the Jebel Hatta.”

“Naval Power had a few minor setbacks last year but has been training well. This looks a nice starting point to see where we are before taking him back to Europe.”

Jamie Osborne is enjoying a fruitful winter in the Middle East with his runners, and he sends out Sean (Ger) (Excelebration {Ire}) to improve one spot after a second to Warren Point (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. on Feb. 2.

“Sean has thrived during his stay in Dubai,” said Osborne. “I'm full of hope that we haven't yet seen the best of him. It's a very tough race and it will require a lifetime best, but I don't think it's impossible we will see one on Friday.”

 

Care To Dance?

Only seven fillies signed on to Friday's AED850,000 1800-metre G2 Balanchine Presented by Longines on grass, and Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby will saddle three of the septet. William Buick has elected to ride the four-for-five Sapphire Seas (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

A listed winner at Yarmouth in September, the daughter of Pure Diamond (GB) (Street Cry {Ire})'s only blip on an otherwise perfect resume was a fourth-place finish at first asking. Her paternal half-sister English Rose (Ire) has wins on both the grass and all-weather, but her unbeaten run was derailed with a runner-up performance to stablemate Silver Lady (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G2 Cape Verdi over 1600 metres on this course on Jan. 19.

“Sapphire Seas looks the filly they all have to beat,” Appleby, who has won the race five times commented. “She was a good winner of a listed race on her latest start. It's her first appearance of the year but this will hopefully be a springboard to a nice European campaign. English Rose has definitely come forward since the Cape Verdi and I feel that she will appreciate racing over nine furlongs.”

Hugo Palmer trainee Stenton Glider (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) will aim to improve two spots after running third in the Cape Verdi. Runner-up in a pair of group races earlier in her career, the 4-year-old leaves from gate three with Jim Crowley at the controls.

“We were very pleased with the run of Stenton Glider in the Cape Verdi,” said the Classic-winning trainer. “It was her first run since August, after the first real break she had in her life. The Cape Verdi and the Balanchine were always the plan when we came to Dubai.”

 

Oaks Laurels & Derby Pointer In The Offing

The central pillar of the AED700,000 G3 UAE Oaks on Friday is the two-for-two Manama Gold (Star Guitar). After a trial at Meydan in November, she trotted out a 2 1/2-length winner of the Storm Coaster conditions race in December, prior to a 9 1/4-length tour-de-force in the Cocoa Beach S. over 1600 metres on Jan. 19. Named a 'TDN Rising Star' that day, the Victorious runner towers over her rivals in this 1900-metre affair for trainer Fawzi Nass.

“She's very exciting,” said jockey Adrie de Vries. “She's still improving and developing and came out of her last race really good. She's got a long stride and she's very relaxed, so I'm not concerned about [the distance] at all.”

The rest of the field has already been defeated by the golden chestnut at least once, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum's Mizzyaan (Justify) was fourth in that January contest, her only start to date. However, if she continues to progress in the manner of her famous Triple Crown-winning sire, she could be a danger.

Classic-bound males get their chance in the Listed Al Bastakiya Presented by Longines, a prep for the G2 UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup night at the end of March. Bhupat Seemar trainee Falcon Of Arabia (Speightstown) is aiming to protect his perfect record in the 1900-metre test over the Meydan dirt, but a pair of South American colts could make his life difficult. Haras Bage Do Sul's Quartier (Uru) (Matterhorn) has won half of his eight starts and was third in the G2 UAE 2000 Guineas, two better that the re-opposing Oasis Boy (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) in fifth in January.

 

A Chance At History?

No horse has ever won the AED700,000 2810-metre G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy Presented by Longines more than once, and on Friday, Godolphin's Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is aiming to be the first from a rail draw. He won the Listed Al Khail Trophy over this trip on Jan. 26.

“Siskany came out of the Al Khail Trophy well and his record around Meydan speaks for itself,” said Appleby of last year's G2 Dubai Gold Cup second. “We are hoping that he can produce another strong performance and book his ticket for the Dubai Gold Cup.”

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Godolphin Exacta In Cape Verdi, As Silver Lady The Latest Stakes Winner For Sea The Stars

It was a stirring game of jockeyship, as Mickael Barzalona and SILVER LADY (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}–Lumiere {GB}, by Shamardal) fended off the finishing rush of William Buick and English Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to win by a measured neck in the AED850,000 G2 Cape Verdi Presented by DP World CGG at Meydan on Friday. The Godolphin runners are both trained by Charlie Appleby. The duo had closed on stablemate Shining Jewel (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) who had set the pace for much of the race until midstretch.

Just off the leaders and tossing her head leaving the stalls, the bay eventually relaxed as Shining Jewel showed the way. Well covered up heading into the turn, positions were largely unchanged on the bend, and Mickael Barzalona cued his charge just before the quarter-pole. She promptly collared Shining Jewel to take the advantage. Meanwhile, the formerly undefeated English Rose was winding up with her run to the subsequent winner's outside, and gave every appearance of edging past, but her greenness told late, as Silver Lady proved game to the line.

“She's got a mind of her own, a bit of temperament,” said Barzalona of Silver Lady. “I took her down steady and she settled well during the race–it was rough the first part–but then she took a big breath and picked up well.”

A winner of a Newmarket maiden when unveiled last April, Silver Lady was promptly third in the Listed Michael Seely Memorial Fillies' S. in May. Given some time off, she returned to take sixth in another listed race at HQ in September and failed to menace when unplaced in the G3 Pride S. there in October, her final appearance prior to Friday's triumph.

Pedigree Notes

The 4-year-old is the 116th stakes winner and 70th Pattern winner for her sire, who stands at Gilltown Stud in Ireland under the banner of The Aga Khan Studs. The much-missed Shamardal now has 102 stakes winners and 52 group winners as a broodmare sire. The cross is also responsible for three other stakes winners led by four-time Group 3 winner Al Aasy (Ire).

Lumiere (GB) claimed the G1 Cheveley Park S. and was also placed in the G2 Lowther S., G2 Challenge S. and G3 Sceptre S. throughout her career. She hit black-type pay dirt with her first foal, the G3 Darley S. winner Highland Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), and Silver Lady is her second group winner. She has a full-sister to Highland Avenue named Dazzling Jewel who just turned three, a juvenile filly by Siyouni (Fr) and a yearling colt by Dubawi still to come.

Lumiere is a full-sister to GI E. P. Taylor S. heroine Sheikha Reika (Fr) (Shamardal), herself the dam of the stakes-placed Arabic Legend (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

 

Friday, Meydan, Middle East
CAPE VERDI (PRESENTED BY DP WORLD GCC)-G2, AED850,000, Meydan, 1-19, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, f/m, 1600mT, 1:34.57, gd.
1–SILVER LADY (GB), 126, f, 4, by Sea The Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Lumiere (GB) (G1SW-Eng, $329,674),
                                by Shamardal
2nd Dam: Screen Star (Ire), by Tobougg (Ire)
3rd Dam: Actoris, by Diesis (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-Godolphin (GB);
T-Charlie Appleby; J-Mickael Barzalona. AED510,000. Lifetime
Record: SP-Eng, 5-2-0-1, AED1,476,000. *1/2 to Highland
Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), GSW-Eng, $185,405. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–English Rose (Ire), 126, f, 4, Frankel (GB)–Sobetsu (GB), by
Dubawi (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE.
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby. AED170,000.
3–Stenton Glider (Ire), 126, f, 4, Dandy Man (Ire)–Crystal Malt
(Ire), by Intikhab. (£35,000 Ylg '21 TATSEP). O-Mrs J Mairs & T
S Mairs; B-Laurence Kennedy (IRE); T-Hugo Palmer.
AED85,000.
Margins: NK, 4, NO.
Also Ran: Nibras Angel (GB), Shining Jewel (GB), Mystic Pearl (Fr), Hunting Lady, Shymay (GB). Click for the ERA chart & video.

 

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Coral Distaff One-Two Eye Cape Verdi Riches

Friday's AED850,000 G2 Cape Verdi presented by DP World GCC run over 1600 metres on the grass has attracted a field of eight, with a pair of Euro raiders in Mystic Pearl (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Stenton Glider (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) signed on for trainers William Haggas and Hugo Palmer, respectively. The duo ran one-two in the Listed Coral Distaff S. last year.

After her July score over Stenton Glider at Sandown, the then-3-year-old was a close third in the G3 Prix de Lieurey, just two heads behind the winner Elounda Queen (Ire) (Australia {GB}).

Stenton Glider boasts a pair of group placings, and connections regarded her highly enough to race her in the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket last spring.

“This has been the target since she disappointed at Haydock [in August],” said Palmer of Stenton Glider. “She's had a break since then, the first real break of her life. She's grown and strengthened, filled out, and is a much stronger filly now.

“She's taken to Dubai really well; she's trained super and been very relaxed, so we hope she can run a very big race.”

Naturally, Godolphin has a strong presence in the lone group race of the nine-race card, and their trio includes the stakes-placed Silver Lady (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) at a mark of 101. William Buick is aboard the undefeated English Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who most recently took a Kempton novice in November, while Richard Mullen has the call on the two-for-four Shining Jewel (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), who is riding a two-race winning streak. The trio break from posts three, eight and four, respectively.

“Shining Jewel is a nice spare to get,” said Mullen. “She won her last two starts and looks like she's improving. I had a sit on her the other day and she's a lovely big filly by Siyouni and I think she'll get further in time, as well.

“Obviously English Rose looks the pick of them, but they're all unexposed horses. The William Haggas filly [Mystic Pearl] brings the best form into it.”

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