Dubai: If there was a certain predictability about Jutland winning the Listed Dh500,000 Jebel Ali Stakes on Friday, trainer Doug Watson admitted that he was being rewarded for taking a patient approach with the elder statesman of his successful stables.
This was the Darley-bred eight-year-old’s fourth and biggest win at the track, spread over five seasons, and sets him up for a shot at the Dubai World Cup Carnival, where the $1 million (Dh3.67 million0 Dubai Gold Cup (G3) on Dubai World Cup night is his ultimate target.
Watson, who is enjoying one of his best seasons in the UAE, having posted 23 wins so far, revealed he opted for a carefully planned program for Jutland’s races in order to ensure that the horse was one hundred per cent fit, and fresh, every time he visited the racecourse.
And it was this policy that helped jockey Pat Dobbs extract the best out of his mount in a fiercely contested renewal of Jebel Ali’s first pattern race of the season.
Jutland needed to dig deep several times during a cat-and-mouse battle with the Richard Mullen-ridden Mawhub, before eventually doing the better work inside the last 100 metres to cross the line just a neck in front of his rival.
Favourite Silver Galaxy did not run his usual race from the front, but did admirably well to finish third under Dubai World Cup-winning rider Silvestre de Sousa, a length behind the leading two.
“Pat gave him a great front-running ride and he had that little bit of energy left in the end,” said former champion handler Watson.
“He’s been in really good form this season so I think we did the right thing by not over racing him. We made a conscious decision to give him a nice break between races. He is so tough and battles so hard he takes a lot out of himself, so we wanted to come here fresh and I think we did the right thing.
“He’s a genuine racehorse and we’ll look at the Carnival now and find a nice handicap for him. We wouldn’t want to go up too much, but we’ve got bigger plans for him. We’ll try to get back to the Gold Cup with him this year.”
Jutland finished fourth behind Godolphin’s Cavalryman in the 3,200-metre Dubai Gold Cup two seasons ago, but missed the race last year due to injury. He was also second to Treble Jig in the Jebel Al Stakes in 2013.
There was a suprise of sorts in the main support race, the Jebel Ali Mile Prep over 1,600 metres, when the largely overlooked Jayed Jidan romped home a deserving winner under Spanish rider Oscar Urbina.
The win provded Dubai-based Kuwaiti owner/handler Rashed Bouresly with his first UAE success since February 2012.
“He ran very well on his first start for us,” said Urbina. “The yard have some nice new horses, including this one, and hopefully we can get a few more winners.”
Unfortunately Bouresly, a passionate horseman and businessman, was not present to enjoy what would have been a very special day for him.
The Musabah Al Muhairi-De Sousa pairing won the Ascana Handicap over 1,400 metres with Art Wave, who narrowly denied the Jebel Ali-trained Momaris victory.
“He is a bit tricky and, once we went to the front, he wandered about a bit and had a bit of think,” said De Sousa. “It is nice to get his head back in front and hopefully this will help him concentrate.”
The meeting opened with the HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum UAE Breeders Society Challenge, the only Purebred Arabian race on the card, which was won by the Richard Mullen-ridden Dig Dagon.
“He has been running well on the whole,” said Mullen. “I was always pretty happy as they went a decent gallop and my fellow picked up nicely when I asked him.”
