Dubai Kahayla Classic

Group 1

QATAR based trainer Julian Smart celebrated a third success in the Group 1 Dubai Kahayla Classic for purebred Arabians when Reda came with a late but powerful burst down the straight to beat RB Burn by two and a half lengths. It was a dream result for H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani who had only received the invitation to run the previous Saturday.

Bred at the owner’s Al Shahania Stud, the five-year-old was ridden by Harry Bentley, who said: “He was a horse that was really improving and I’d liked him a lot last year, but he disappointed during the summer. He’s really come of age and matured a lot.”

“I didn’t think anything could come from the back on this track,” his exuberant English-born trainer said. “But I tell you what, he is an underrated horse. We only got the invitation last Saturday and am I glad we did! He has only run one time on the dirt in his career. We ran him a couple of weeks ago to see if he could handle it. And he has handled this.”

The winner’s share of the $1 million purse was $600,000 and this was the most important of the five-year-old’s four victories in 16 starts.