Dubai: Godolphin jockeys James Doyle and William Buick seized the spotlight with three winners apiece as UAE owners made merry on a busy day’s racing across Britain.
Doyle delivered the biggest result of the day with a telling victory aboard the Abdulla Belhab-owned Century Dream in the Group 3 Diomed Stakes, a prestigious 1,400metre contest traditionally run at Epsom as part of the Derby festival, but staged this year at Newbury racecourse due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trained by former Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford, Century Dream was reprising his victory of 2017 with a solid performance under a typically strong ride from Doyle to score by a quarter-of-a-length from favourite King Of Comedy and Martin Hayley, with Zaaki and Ryan Moore a neck back in third.
Earlier in the afternoon, Doyle was already in the winner’s enclosure after steering the William Haggas-trained Mubtasimah to a comfortable victory in the Listed Maggie Dickson Stakes for mares and fillies aged three years or older.
Miss Celestial, ridden by Luke Morris for trainer Sir Mark Prescott, was two lengths back in second with Tom Marquand aboard Ed Walker’s Sunday Star, only a neck behind in third.
Mubtasimah ran in the colours of Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, an accomplished endurance rider.
Formerly run at Musselburgh just outside Edinburgh in Scotland over seven furlongs, it was switched to Newbury due to the rescheduling of races.
Meanwhile at Sandown Racecourse, the Charlie Appleby-trained Lazuli put in a strong front-running performance to win the Listed Curry Stakes under William Buick, who was in red-hot form.
The three-year-old son of Dubawi was making a quick return to action having finished second in a six-furlong handicap at Newmarket last weekend but relished the drop in trip at Sandown.
Buick, who completed a hat-trick of wins on the day, said: “He ran very well at Newmarket last weekend and he was very good today, very quick.
“He gave me a good feel and coming back from six to five now, he will be a good sprinter.”
“For a relatively inexperienced horse, he has a lot of race experience and obviously a lot of speed. He’s a three-year-old sprinter, he feels like a proper sprinter and I can only see him improving. I certainly wouldn’t want to set any limits but I think he’s a very nice horse in the making, that’s for sure.”
There was also success for Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, at Doncaster, when the Shadwell-bred Danyah landed the Heed Your Hunch Handicap by a comfortable margin of three lengths under Dane O’Neill.
The winner was trained by Owen Burrows, who is based at Sheikh Hamdan’s Kingwood House Stables in the Lambourn Valley.
Epsom Derby winning owner Sheikh Mohammad Obaid Al Maktoum also uncovered a talented youngster when Pat Dobbs made most of the running aboard the Richard Hannon-trained Mambo Nights to win a Maiden Stakes event.
