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Sajjhaa floors Igugu in Balanchine; Mushreq scales Al Fahidi Fort

Sajjhaa, who has won two straight Group 2s, will likely appear in North America later this year (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) Godolphin's Sajjhaa capitalized on her fitness edge, and a better trip, to spoil the Dubai debut of South African pride and joy Igugu in Thursday's Group 2, $200,000 Balanchine Stakes. Making her first start off a nearly 13-month layoff, Igugu blazed through testing early fractions that took their toll in the stretch. In so doing, she set the race up perfectly for the stalking Sajjhaa, who seized the opportunity with alacrity and broke the course record. Igugu, who logged many traveling miles in her roundabout journey in quarantine from South Africa last year, was bet down as if defeat were out of the question. Although trainer Mike de Kock had remarked that she was fit enough to return, he at the same time sounded a cautionary note that this was no easy task. Judging by the pattern of most of his other Carnival runners, the former South African Horse of the Year figured to improve with this under her belt. Even with such caveats, however, few observers would have projected the precise circumstances that contributed to her defeat. A bit fresh in her comeback, she broke alertly and found herself right off the flank of Godolphin pacemaker Dark Orchid. But instead of settling into a cozy tracking spot, jockey Christophe Soumillon allowed Igugu to go forward, and she outfooted the pacemaker. According to Trakus, Igugu zipped her second quarter in :22 2/5 on Meydan's good turf, a dose of early speed that would prove costly in an about nine-furlong race. Dark Orchid fulfilled her job description by hounding the heavy favorite, while Sajjhaa was conserving her energy off the pace.

Jockey Silvestre de Sousa had carved out a similar trip when Sajjhaa ran away with the Group 2 Cape Verdi last out on January 24, and as the field swung for home, the proverbial handwriting was on the wall. Igugu tried to dig in, but was clearly a spent force down the stretch.

Sajjhaa delivered the coup de grace, only to find Godolphin's unheralded Prussian rallying into contention from the rear. It was Saeed bin Suroor versus Mahmood al Zarooni, with bin Suroor's Sajjhaa safely holding off al Zarooni's Prussian by a length.

Underscoring the effects of the blistering pace, Sajjhaa covered about nine furlongs in 1:48.58, a record time on the Meydan turf.

"She has really thrived in the Dubai weather and has won both races in good style," bin Suroor said of Sajjhaa, who was conceding three pounds to her rivals as the 129-pound highweight. "We will have to sit down and plan where to go with her, but Super Saturday (March 9) would be a possibility."

Godolphin Racing Manager Simon Crisford sounded more inclined to await targets in Europe, and mentioned that North America would be on her agenda in the latter portion of the year.

Prussian crossed the wire 3 1/4 lengths clear of Igugu, and the rest of the field was well strung out. There was a seven-length gap back to Lily's Angel in fourth, trailed by Spellwork, Igugu's pace rival Dark Orchid and the distanced Colliding Worlds.

"They went at breakneck speed, and Igugu was fresh and pulling some to go with them," de Kock told his website. "She got involved in a duel of speed with Godolphin's pacemaker, Dark Orchid, the fractions were very fast.

"Igugu got tired in the stretch, but she stayed to the line and she wasn't disgraced at all considering the factors involved. The fact that Dark Orchid faded right out  -- she was beaten almost 20 lengths, shows just how fast the clip was."

Igugu is still on course for the Group 1 Jebel Hatta at this same trip on Super Saturday.

"She will improve many lengths in the next two weeks," de Kock averred, "and we hope to have her near her best on the day."

Sajjhaa, now in the form of her life at the age of six, notched her fifth career stakes victory and advanced her line to 15-6-4-0, $485,292. Initially trained by Michael Jarvis, Sajjhaa romped in her career debut at three, earning a tilt at the Group 1 Epsom Oaks. But the classic was a case of too much, too soon, and she was eased when soundly beaten. Sajjhaa was stronger over the second half of her 2010 campaign, capturing the Group 3 Premio Sergio Cumani and Dick Hern Fillies' Stakes and missing by a nose in the Rosemary Handicap. 

Joining Godolphin for her four-year-old season in 2011, Sajjhaa was a fine runner-up effort to Midday in the Group 2 Middleton at York and later returned to the Knavesmire to take the Lyric Stakes. She raced only three times last year. After resuming with another second in the Middleton, this time to Izzi Top, Sajjhaa was not seen again until the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio in October, where she wound up fourth on heavy going. She bounced back with a strong performance in the November 10 Gillies at Doncaster, opening up a sizeable lead before being caught late by Cubanita, and then headed off to Dubai.

Bred by Darley in Great Britain, Sajjhaa is by King's Best and out of the winning Darshaan mare Anaamil. Her second dam is Group 3 heroine Noushkey, the runner-up in the 1999 Oaks. This is the family of Group 1 star Alkaased, record-setting winner of the Grade 1 Japan Cup in 2005.

Sajjhaa was handing bin Suroor and de Sousa a quickfire double on the card. One race earlier, de Sousa put on a front-running master class aboard Con Artist in a handicap. The Godolphin runner was still traveling best of all into the stretch, and kept finding plenty to defeat Plantagenet by 3 3/4 lengths.

"I was always happy on him and he quickened well at the top of the straight to win nicely," de Sousa said.

Con Artist negotiated about 1 3/16 miles on the Tapeta in 1:57 4/5 to break through in his third try at the Carnival. In his latest venture at this same track and trip on January 31, the son of Invincible Spirit was edged by his up-and-coming stablemate Kassiano, to whom he was conceding four pounds. The six-year-old Con Artist, a $117,266 two-year-old in training purchase at Tattersalls in April 2009, has plied his trade in handicaps in England.

Mushreq stormed into the Dubai Duty Free picture (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) Despite the upset of Igugu, de Kock still had a productive night with two high-profile winners: Mushreq resumed his progress by storming home in the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort, and Ballydoyle emigre Await the Dawn won handsomely in his second start for the yard. De Kock had pegged Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum's homebred Mushreq as the likeliest of his trio in the Al Fahidi Fort. Razor-sharp in his fifth start of the Carnival, he was ready to fire, while stablemates Musir and Master of Hounds were both expected to need this comeback to bring them on. Musir in particular was playing quite a bit of catch-up, for he was coming off a failed stint at stud. Across the Rhine scampered to the early lead, but not at the same breakneck pace as in the Balanchine. Master of Hounds raced in a joint second with Do It All, Musir was parked in fourth, and Mushreq was held up in about midpack by regular rider Paul Hanagan. The de Kock duo closed in on the weakening Across the Rhine at the head of the lane, Musir darting through along the fence and Master of Hounds going around the leader. Musir, as though he had never been away from the game, struck the front with his trademark turn of foot. Master of Hounds was staying on one-paced, but wider out, Mushreq, was picking up steam.

Collaring Musir about a furlong out, Mushreq opened up by 3 1/4 lengths and earned his first stakes score emphatically. The Australian-bred son of Flying Spur sped the metric mile on turf in 1:36 3/5, a stakes record since the move to Meydan in 2010.

"That was a second win on his fifth 2013 start for Mushreq who has been a revelation and keeps improving," said de Kock, who was winning the Al Fahidi Fort for the fifth time.

"He's made the kind of rapid improvement we last saw from Lizard's Desire here a few seasons ago before he ran his great race in the Dubai World Cup. Mushreq's getting better and stronger every day and he's defied his penalties. He's just doing everything right, going the right way.

"After this top-class performance I feel like putting him on ice and going straight into the (Group 1) Dubai Duty Free on World Cup night (March 30), but we'll have to discuss the way forward with Sheikh Hamdan and Angus Gold."

Master of Hounds, the 129-pound highweight, boxed on for second by a short head from the late-running Iguazu Falls. Musir's lack of fitness was evident in deep stretch, but he salvaged fourth in a prep that he can build upon. Next came Don't Call Me, Godolphin's somewhat disappointing Mandaean, the slow-starting Le Drakkar, Across the Rhine, Fiscal and Do It All.

Mushreq began his career in South Africa, where he missed by a neck in the Group 1 Golden Horseshoe as a juvenile in 2011. He failed to cut the mustard as a classic candidate, finishing fifth in the Group 1 Cape Derby and a tailed-off last in the Group 1 SA Classic early last year.

After fading to 10th in his Dubai debut on Tapeta January 10, the five-year-old gelding was a luckless fourth in a January 24 turf handicap. Mushreq wheeled back the following week for a similar event and drove to a 1 1/2-length score. He raced for the third consecutive Thursday in the Group 2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 on Tapeta February 7, winding up sixth to Hunter's Light. Mushreq appeared to prefer reverting to turf here, and had no problem in cutting back to a metric mile for the first time since November 2011.

Mushreq is out of the stakes-placed Jeune mare Alharir, making him a half-brother to Macau stakes winner Jazza Bell. He hails from the family of Group 1 stars Rewaaya, Forensics and Snippets, also a noted sire.

Await the Dawn is recapturing his old form for new trainer Mike de Kock (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) Await the Dawn was likewise rebounding from the Maktoum Challenge Round 2, where he was a non-threatening ninth in his return from a 10-month layoff. The six-year-old son of Giant's Causeway has a boatload of back class, however, from his old Coolmore days, and he promised to move forward considerably second time out for de Kock and partners. Await the Dawn duly obliged, making short work of an about 1 1/4-mile turf handicap in course-record time. Under confident handling by Pat Cosgrave, he cruised from off the pace, easily bested So Beautiful by 2 3/4 lengths, and stopped the teletimer in 2:01 2/5. "Await the Dawn needed his first run badly, and we thought he had a lot more to offer," de Kock said of the 132-pound highweight, who was spotting So Beautiful 10 pounds. "We could stay on turf or perhaps try the all-weather again -- I am not sure yet." Once touted as a potential Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful for Aidan O'Brien, Await the Dawn has been talented, if fragile, as his 11-6-0-1 line attests. He won both starts in 2010, including a nine-length romp in the Group 3 Kilternan, and opened 2011 with daylight victories in the Group 3 Huxley and Group 2 Hardwicke at Royal Ascot. The Juddmonte International was expected to be his Group 1 coming-out party, but he was a tame third.

Subsequently hospitalized with a serious illness, Await the Dawn almost died. He recovered in time to attempt the 2011 Breeders' Cup Turf, where he was simply used as a pacemaker for St Nicholas Abbey and beat a retreat. He made only one more appearance for O'Brien in last year's Dubai Duty Free, again winging it early before giving way and trudging home a long-way last, as a shadow of himself.

"Await the Dawn was what we call a 'project' horse," de Kock told his website. "He's suffered a multitude of problems and we got him from Coolmore as a challenge, a long-term project.  I'm happy to say everything has come together for him, it was a massive team effort and I'm very proud.

"Await the Dawn spent two months with Fozzy Stack in Ireland. He ran around the paddock with an old hack, and it did him the world of good."

The well-bred Await the Dawn is a half-brother to Group 1-placed stakes winner Putney Bridge and to Card Shop, the dam of current Group 3 victress Ollie Olga. Await the Dawn was produced by the multiple stakes-placed Dixieland Band mare Valentine Band, who comes from the family of champions Commander in Chief, Warning and Rainbow Quest.

Unbridled Ocean made a winning Dubai debut for Besilu Stables, the owner of World Cup favorite Royal Delta (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) Also on Thursday, Besilu Stables' Unbridled Ocean landed his debut for Satish Seemar, a little more than a month before Royal Delta hoists the same silks in the Group 1 Duba World Cup. Defying a horrible draw in post 14, the lightly-raced son of Unbridled's Song was always in close pursuit beneath Richard Mullen, took command in the stretch, and held on grimly from Sandagiyr by three-quarters of a length. "We have always liked him, and he has done well to win from that wide draw," Mullen said. "We may have to step him up in class now." Unbridled Ocean, who was making his first start on a surface other than turf, clocked 1:36 4/5 for the metric mile on Tapeta. Initially trained by Todd Pletcher, the $875,000 Keeneland September yearling won a Belmont Park maiden and a Gulfstream Park allowance at three. The gray managed a single outing for Bill Mott last year, finishing fifth in a second-level allowance at Belmont on October 17. A half-brother to multiple stakes scorer West Ocean, Unbridled Ocean is out of multiple Grade 3 queen Ocean Drive, who is in turn a half-sister to millionaire Sun King and Grade 1 scorer Traitor.

Trainer Seth Benzel and jockey Khamzat Ulubaev combined for their first U.A.E. winner courtesy of Dux Scholar in the nightcap, a turf sprint handicap. Appreciating shortening up to about five furlongs for the first time in his career, the Ramzan Kadyrov colorbearer unleashed a withering late run under his top weight of 132 pounds. Dux Scholar blitzed in :57 3/5 and had 1 1/4 lengths to spare over Russian Soul, with Medicean Man another neck away in third and longtime leader Bear Behind in fourth.

The winner of the 1 1/4-mile Steventon Stakes at Newbury for breeder Prince Khalid Abdulla, Dux Scholar scored in a non-black-type event in Slovakia last July. The five-year-old son of Oasis Dream has placed in 10 stakes, including last year's Group 2 Zabeel Mile over the Meydan turf, the Group 2 Oettingen-Rennen and the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein, also at a mile. Dux Scholar was transferred to Benzel ahead of the Carnival, and in his reappearance, finished an encouraging second to Time Prisoner in an about seven-furlong turf handicap on January 31.

Having possibly reinvented himself as a turf sprinter, Dux Scholar will set his sights on the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at this minimum trip on March 30.

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