Dubai: Godolphin handler Saeed Bin Surour made another profitable appearance at Meydan racecourse on Saturday night where he continued his strong start to the season by saddling a hat-trick of winners.
Despite winning the Dubai World Cup Carnival trainers’ championship for five successive years since 2008, it appears that his hunger for success has not been satisfied. That’s in view of the tenacity with which his horses have been running at such an early stage in the season.
Ever the competitor, Bin Surour dismissed talk of him relinquishing his hold on the championship, however, by saying that winning was something he liked but which did not burden him with the weight of expectation.
“It’s always nice to win, everybody likes to win, particularly here at Meydan,” said the handler. “Winning is great, but you don’t put yourself under needless pressure as you pursue success.
“Our horses are running well thanks to the teamwork that goes into their preparation. There is a lot of hard work put into bring a fit horse to the track so that he has every chance of winning.
“Our horses are still not fully fit, so it’s nice to see that they can still bring us good results, and we hope that we can keep this going through the season.”
Bin Surour’s trio of winners at Saturday’s non-Carnival meeting came courtesy of Alkimos (Kieren Fallon), Mawhub (Pat Dobbs) and Last Fighter (Silvestre De Sousa).
Fallon won on Alkimos for the second time, having previously partnered the son of High Chapparal to a 2011 victory at Windsor in England when he was trained by Luca Cumani.
Bin Surour noted that Mawhub enjoys the Tapeta, while Last Fighter is an improving horse who has learned to finish his races professionally,
“He is still a baby and needs to learn a bit more in his races,” Bin Surour said of the four-year-old son of Cape Cross. “I hope that he can improve again and we can look for a race at the Dubai World Cup Carnival with him.
“Overall it has been a good evening at Meydan and we thought we had some good chances, so it was nice to be proved right. We will take all three [winners] home and look for suitable race for them.”
Godolphin pilot Silvestre De Sousa picked up a meet double when he rode Ali Rashid Al Raihe’s Innocuous to victory in a 1,400m handicap before saluting the three-time champion handler’s touch with his string.
“Horses from the yard are always fit and well, so you know you have a chance and he deserved that as he has run some good races in defeat,” said the Brazil-born rider.
Pat Cosgrave was another rider in double-winning form, triumphing aboard the Abdullah Bin Huzaim-trained Earl of Carrick in the 1,900m maiden and following it up aboard Satish Seemar’s Take Ten in the 1,200m sprint on turf.
