Sport | Horse Racing

Mahbooba set to chase gold at Meydan Racecourse

Mahbooba sets herself up for imminent raid on the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold on Super Saturday

  • By Leslie Wilson Jr, Racing & Special Features Writer
  • Published: 00:00 February 18, 2012
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
  • Mahbooba, ridden by jockey Christophe Soumillon and trained by Mike de Kock, wins the Group Two Balanchine Stakes at Meydan on Friday.
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Dubai: Former South African champion two-year-old Mahbooba stamped herself as an indisputable big-race contender after winning the Group Two Balanchine Stakes in compelling fashion at Meydan Racecourse yesterday afternoon.

Ridden confidently by Christophe Soumillion, the Belgian rider with the pop-star looks, Mahbooba had two and a half lengths to spare to the runner-up First City, while stable companion Reem was a neck back in third.

Narrowly defeated by First City in the Group 2 Cape Verdi Stakes last time out Mahbooba gained revenge over her rival to register a fifth success in the race for her trainer Mike de Kock. More importantly she has set herself up for an imminent raid on the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold on Super Saturday, March 10.

"Last time the distance [1,600m] was probably a little short for her, she's a mile-and-a-half filly. That's probably her best trip," said De Kock. "So we'll go on for the City Of Gold [2,400m] with a view to aiming her at the Dubai Sheema Classic Dubai World Cup night."

Not going to be easy

The South African was pleased with the way his big-race team has been shaping up, following Viscount Nelson's victory in the Al Fahidi Fort (Group 2) on Thursday night but admitted it was not going to be easy to select their final targets.

"Some of them have to bump into each other especially on Super Thursday and probably on World Cup evening, but it's a nice problem to have," said De Kock. "It's going to take a lot of planning and head scratching to get the horses into the race that you think they'd be most competitive in, but like I said before it's a nice problem to have to deal with."

Earlier in the afternoon Tertio Bloom and Capital Attraction were involved in the first dead-heat of the season when the judge failed to separate the two in the S O G Logistics handicap.

Per-Anders Graberg was aboard Tertio Bloom for trainer Fabrico Borges while Dubai World Cup winning jockey Mirco Demuro rode Capital Attraction for Abu Dhabi-based Ernst Oertel.

Graberg was happy with the result and said: "He ran well over this course and distance two runs ago and I was hoping for a big run. We hit the front and perhaps went a length clear but Demuro's horse was finishing fast and I was not sure if I had held on."

Results

Race 1. S O G Engineering Maiden Stakes (TB) 1400M (All-Weather):

1. Farier (S Seemar) R Mullen; 2. Seeking Glory; 3. Cody Maverick; 4. Fa'iz.

Dist: 3L, 5L, Head. Time: 01:25:43 secs.

Race 2. Bani Yas (Group 2) Sponsored by S O G Drilling (PA) 1400M (AW):

1. Kandar Du Falgas (D Watson) R Hills; 2. Af Alghabra; 3. Quite A Show; 4. Musharab.

Dist: 3L, 2.5L, 7.5L. Time: 01:33:66 secs.

Race 3. S O G Reservoir Handicap (TB) 1200M (AW):

1. Garbah (A Al Raihe) R Ffrench; 2. Dan Chillingworth ; 3. Musaalem; 4. Lord Tiger.

Dist: 1.5L, 0.75L, 2.25L. Time: 01:12:09 secs.

Race 4. S O G Facilities Handicap (TB) 1600M (AW):

1. Alnashmy (M Al Muhairi) W Smith; 2. Radegund Abbey; 3. Star Surprise; 4. Antinori.

Dist: 1L, 0.75L, 1L. Time: 01:37.91 secs.

Race 5. S O G Logistics Handicap (TB) 1400M AW):

1. Tertio Bloom (F Borges) P Graberg and Capital Attraction (E Oertel) M Demuro; 3. Cinderkamp; 4. Kaiss.

Dist: Dead Heat; 0.5L; 2.25L. Time: 01:25:80 secs.

Race 6. Balanchine (Group 2) Sponsored by S O G Operations (TB) 1800M (Turf):

1. Mahbooba (M de Kock) C Soumillon; 2. First City; 3. Reem; 4. Al Sharood.

Dist: 2.5L, Neck, 2.5L. Time: 01:50:27 secs.

Race 7. S O G Finance Handicap (TB) 2000M (AW):

1. Plantagenet (G A Elosegul) I Mendizabal; 2. Ahalaain; 3. Jutland; 4. Famusa.

Dist: 2L, 3.25L, Neck. Time: 02:05:05 secs.

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