MEYDAN staged a fascinating six-race card at their final meeting of 2019, highlighted by the Listed Dubai Creek Mile which was won by Nasir Askar’s Secret Ambition, trained by Satish Seemar and the mount of Tadhg O’Shea.

The feature looked competitive on paper and so it proved to be, with five of the seven runners posing a threat at some stage. Heavy Metal and Yulong Warrior set the pace and both still were in contention exiting the home turn. The winner in 2017, Heavy Metal was the first to crack, before Yulong Warrior weakened and was passed by his stable companion.

Rodaini and Kimbear both challenged in the last half a furlong, with the latter snatching second place on the line. Secret Ambition ran out a length winner to earn his second stakes win of the year having taken February’s Group 3 Jebel Ali Mile. The son of Exceed And Excel was notching a ninth career success and his eighth since joining Zabeel Stables.

Impossible choice

“Richie [Mullen] had an impossible choice,” O’Shea said. “Both horses had been working really hard at home. Whichever one he decided to ride, I was in the fortunate position of picking up a very nice ride. One thing this horse does is he is tough, he is genuine and he loves a fight - and he carried a penalty today. He is uncomplicated. He does enough and he gets there.”

Seemar added: “Secret Ambition is a very strong-minded horse. He’s not an easy horse to train at home because of his character. When he has his day, that’s his day. Today he broke the mould because the track was all speed, so it’s nice to see him come back and it sets him up for the Carnival perfectly.”

The meeting opened with a Group 3 race for purebred Arabians, victory going to Fahad Mohd Aloraini’s Aatebat Al Khalediah, trained by Ali Rashid Al Rayhi and ridden by Fernando Jara.

An hour later Grandstand Stables’ jockey and trainer were celebrating a double, combining with Dubai Avenue, a son of Bated Breath, to land a mile maiden for juvenile colts and geldings. Owned by Ahmed Al Sheikh, the winner was having his fourth career start and second locally, having finished runner-up over five furlongs on his previous start.

The victory earned him an official rating of 82.

Bred by the McCartans at Ballyphilip Stud, Dubai Avenue was sold as a yearling in Fairyhouse for €24,000 to Clive Cox who trained him previously. “We were quite hopeful because that was a good run at Jebel Ali behind a decent horse,” Jara said. “We thought the extra distance was in our favour and he battled well when I needed him to.”

Very professional

A mark of 82 was also earned by the filly Down On Da Bayou, who was never tested when winning by eight lengths in a seven-furlong contest for two-year-old fillies. Royston Ffrench was in the saddle for trainer Salem bin Ghadayer and owner HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. A daughter of Super Saver, she put the experience of her previous outing to good use and is a filly to note. She is a half-sister to the Group 3 UAE Oaks winner Polar River.

Ffrench said: “She was very green the first day, but the team have done a lot of work at the stalls with her and she was very professional this evening.”

Group 3 winner My Catch returned to form with style in the six-furlong handicap, shouldering top weight. The eight-year-old son of Camacho grabbed the rail under Pat Dobbs and the seasoned sprinter overpowered the opposition to cement his place at the 2020 DWC Carnival for trainer Doug Watson and owners Valentin Bukhtoyarov and Evgeny Kappushev.

Watson said: “He is a great horse to have in the yard and on his day is a very good, fast horse, so it is brilliant to see him win again. That was a very pleasing performance from horse and jockey and a good result for the owners.”

The evening ended with another win from the team of Dobbs and Watson when the Yeomanstown Stud-bred Golden Goal made his second start after a two-year break a winning one for owner Dale Brennan. Confidently handled, the five-year-old son of Dark Angel won like a horse with a bright future, possibly at the DWC Carnival which gets underway on January 2nd. His final time was 0.72 seconds faster than that recorded by Secret Ambition in the Dubai Creek Mile. Golden Goal’s rating has risen to 90.