Sport | Horse Racing
Madjani underlines his class with imposing run
Madjani, true to form and predictions, demolished the field with a superb run under Richard Hills to clinch his second successive Dubai Kahayla Classic (Group 1) for Purebred Arabians.
- By M. Satya Narayan, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:32 May 3, 2009
- Electrocutionist powers to World Cup victory
- Discreet Cat annihilates his rivals
- American speedballs sweep first four places
- Memorable night for Heart's Cry
- Time to take David Junior seriously
- Take lives a Utopia with sheer pace
- Simply electrifying!
- This is a very special performance: Dettori
- Race results: Dubai World Cup 2006
Dubai: Madjani, true to form and predictions, demolished the field with a superb run under Richard Hills to clinch his second successive Dubai Kahayla Classic (Group 1) for Purebred Arabians.
The win gave owner Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, his fourth successive win in this premier race for Purebred Arabians. While trainer Gillian Duffield completed a hat-trick, Hills also earned his third Kahayla win.
Madjani, a six year-old son of Tidjani, has been in awesome form since he won the Kahayla last year under Willie Supple. He came into yesterday's race with three Group 1 wins, two on turf and one at the same course earlier.
The Duffield-ward was expecting a stiff test from a quartet of international runners, three from France and one from England. However it was not to be as Madjani was in a class of his own.
He was followed home by three other UAE-based Arabians to make it a clean sweep for local connections.
Madjani jumped out smartly from stall one and Hills kept the piping hot favourite close to the rails. Doug Watson's Al Awal set the pace and led for most of the race, but as the field entered the home stretch, Hills brought Madjani to the front.
Related Links
Lengthening his strides, the champion moved away from the chasing pack. Shaikh Hamdan's Djelmane, trained by Watson, and Charh, trained by Erwan Charpy, also joined the battle, but Madjani was always ahead.
Hills brought the whip out and Madjani romped home with more than three lengths ahead of Djelmane. Satish Seemar's Hasna De Faust came up with a late run to push Charh to fourth place.
"He is a fantastic animal," said a beaming Duffield, who is having a tremendous UAE season, which includes a four-timer at an Abu Dhabi race meeting. "Madjani is simply the best."
The international runners seemed out of place and looked woefully short of form in unfamiliar conditions.
The Jean Pierre Totain-trained Amperor Des Cedres, who arrived with a strong reputation on the back of four successive wins, including two on dirt, was just not in the reckoning and finished second from last in the 11-horse field.
Another strong contender, French mare Djezica finished last while Arsene Rupin finished eighth. The only newcomer to salvage some pride for the international runners was Udjidor De Bozouls, finishing sixth.
| RESULTS | ||||
| RACE 1 DUBAI KAHAYLA CLASSIC (Purebred Arabians) | ||||
| Group 1 Distance 2,000m Dirt | ||||
| US$250,000 sponsored by EMAAR | ||||
| Place | Horse/DIRT rating | Trainer | Jockeys | G. No. |
| 1 | Madjani (FR) ( 122 ) | G Duffield | R Hills | 1 |
| 2 | Djelmane (FR) ( 100 ) | D Watson | G Birrer | 2 |
| 3 | Hasna De Faust (FR) ( 90 ) | S Seemar | R Moore | 8 |
| 4 | Charh (BG) ( 100 ) | E Charpy | W Supple | 4 |
| 5 | Jilko (FR) ( 97 ) | M Al Muhairi | W Smith | 9 |
| 6 | Udjidor De Bozouls (FR) ( 109 ) | J P Totain | O Peslier | 6 |
| 7 | Al Awal (GB) ( 95 ) | D Watson | R Mullen | 7 |
| 8 | Arsene Rupin (FR) ( 100 ) | G Ward | J Murtagh | 3 |
| 9 | Agrab Al Nas (FR) ( 102 ) | J Frazier Jr | G Hind | 11 |
| 10 | Amperor Des Cedres (FR) ( 107 ) | J P Totain | C Nora | 10 |
| 11 | Djezika (FR) ( 110 ) | D De Watrigant | C Soumillon | 5 |
More from Horse Racing
More from Sport
Sport Editor's choice
-
Golf: Looking back with a sense of pride
Mohammad Juma Bu Amim, golf in DUBAi chief, is pleased with where the game is going in the region
-
Mansour trio chase Arabian Derby riches
Naseem won Arabian Triple Crown Round 1 under Wayne Smith by a convincing ten-length margin over stablemate
-
We were 40 runs short, captain Mangal says
Afghan camp feels team could have scored a historic win against Pakistan if the middle order had fired
