Royal Tryst, Khoutoubia triumph

Royal Tryst give in-form trainer John Sadler his second big win of the season, while Khoutoubia silenced critics with a classy performance in the featured races at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club on Sunday night.

Royal Tryst's performance, apart from fetching him the National Day Cup, also earned praise from Sadler, who plans to run the five-year-old in the Dh350,000 Tawi Murghem at Nad Al Sheba on December 19.

Royal Tryst, who finished fifth in the 2002 Dubai World Cup won by Street Cry, showed a lot of class in his win here though Satish Seemar's South African contender Trademark also impressed while finishing a competitive third behind Calcutta.

With stablemate Lightning Arrow (Michael Hussey up) setting the early pace, Royal Tryst was kept at the rear of the field by John Murtagh while Trademark (Ted Durcan up) looked to be in a perfect position.

However, entering the straight, Murtagh pressed the button and Royal Tryst found another gear while Trademark appeared to be boxed in. With two furlongs to go Royal Tryst took over the running and lengthened his strides to win in style from Calcutta (Michael Hills).

By the time Durcan extracted Trademark from the pack and made his run it was too late. But the two-time South African Group One winner nevertheless looked strong at the finish.

Commenting on Royal Tryst's performance Sadler said: "He is one of the better horses and seems to be best in the mile. John got a nice good turn and Royal Tryst was home.

"Royal Tryst is good on both sand and dirt. We now will take him for the 1,500-metre event in Nad Al Sheba before we decide on his Dubai World Cup day plans," added Sadler, who last week won the Umm El Din with State Shinto.