THE Dubai World Cup Carnival at Meydan is under way, and there were a couple of Group 2s on last Thursday week’s card. Benbatl did not have to be near his best to win a slowly-run Singspiel Stakes easily by nearly five lengths (timefigure of just 58) but Kimbear ran a solid 112 figure in short-heading Secret Ambition and North America in Round One of the Al Maktoum Challenge on dirt.

Other useful times were recorded by Ekhtiyaar (112) in the opening sprint handicap and by Zakouski (102) in the mile handicap, both of them on turf.

Pastor’s win

A few noteworthy jumping performances came from the main meetings back home on what was another low-key week in horseracing.

Perhaps most significant was the easy win at Ludlow of the 135-rated former French juvenile Mick Pastor, a gelding now fifth in the pecking order among four-year-old hurdlers.

Castle Rushen looked a decent recruit when running a 110 figure to win the bumper at Ayr early in the week, his time significantly quicker than the fair handicap hurdle won by McGowan’s Pass half an hour earlier. Elvis Mail got back on track with a 139 performance at Kelso.