Dubai: Red Duke, a former Group II winner in the UK, rolled back the years to win at the third attempt for new trainer Mike de Kock at Saturday’s racing at Meydan meeting.

The son of Hard Spun is no stranger to Meydan, having been campaigned during the 2013 Dubai World Cup Carnival by David Simcock and the previous year as well by John Quinn where he finished fifth to Daddy Long Legs in the Group2 $2 million (Dh7.3 million) UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup night.

Red Duck was notching his first success in 19 starts since winning the Group 2 Superlative Stakes on the final day of Newmarket’s three-day July Festival in 2006.

De Kock was delighted with the five-year-old’s return to form and said: “We had four in the race and knew they were all capable of a big run. Obviously a 1-2 is a great result and continues our good run after a double on Thursday.”

Bahraini handler Fawzi Nass got off the mark for the season when he saddle the ex-Jim Bolger trained Tonabrocky to victory. A lightly-raced son of Pivotal, Tonabrocky looked impressive under Richard Hughes.

Nass was on hand at Meydan and said: “He could not have made a better start for us. Hughes gave him a great ride and we have to be hopeful that he has more to offer. He seems like a nice horse who is still developing.”

Trainer Doug Watson and stable jockey, Pat Dobbs, were in double winning form with Kilt Rock and Ostaad, both hard-working winners. Kilt Rock, a star at Jebel Ali, was notching his first win on the turf at Meydan and Watson said: “We knew we had some good chances this evening but you will always be happy with a double.

“Kilt Rock has been great at Jebel Ali over the last season or so but has been running well here, back on turf, this year. We knew he would not be far away.”

Richard Mullen looks to be chasing down defending champion Tadhg O’Shea in the race of the 2013-2014 UAE jockey’s title as he added another smart win to his total on Saturday aboard Genius Step. Mullen, who moved to 17 wins for season behind O’Shea’s 25, was looking forward to riding the former Godolphin-trained horse in the Carnival.

“We really thought he would win on his penultimate start but, in hindsight, our tactics were wrong and we rode him positively.

“He was than collared close home but we have learned to ride him more conservatively and that is two good wins on the spin. Obviously, we are in the hands of the handicapper, but I would love to sneak into a Carnival sprint handicap on him.”