Presvis finds third time the charm in Duty Free

Presvis used a potent burst to reel in River Jetez (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) Leonidas Marinopoulos et al’s PRESVIS (Sakhee) had been frustrated in his prior two attempts in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1), but on Saturday, the Luca Cumani veteran finally had things go his way. With Ryan Moore expertly engineering a last-to-first passage in traffic, Presvis had the gears to seize every seam as it came, collared the South African mare River Jetez (Jet Master), and pulled three-quarters of a length clear. “He’s a very talented horse — he deserved that,” Moore said. “A lot of hard work goes into him in the mornings and this is one for the whole team. “They went a good gallop initially, then the pace slackened a bit and he got the gaps when I needed them. Usually, he quickens between horses and he had to fight to beat off the mare.” A notorious slow-starter, Presvis again was lackadaisical to get into stride at the rear. Up front, Hong Kong invader Beauty Flash (Golan [Ire]) carved out a steady pace, prompted by Strawberrydaiquiri (Dansili [GB]). A hard-held River Jetez was just behind them, with Tazeez (Silver Hawk) and Better Than Ever (French Deputy) in close attendance. Meanwhile, late runners Wigmore Hall (Ire) (High Chaparral [Ire]), Royal Bench (Whipper) and Presvis were still unhurried at the tail of the field.

Straightening up for home, Strawberrydaiquiri put a tiring Beauty Flash away,
only to have River Jetez breathing down her neck. The South African made her bid
for glory, and as she surged to the lead, she appeared determined to become the
first female winner since Ipi Tombe (Zim) in 2003.

Presvis, however, had been scything his way through the field. Bursting into
the daylight in midstretch, he took aim on River Jetez and simply had too much
momentum for the mare. Presvis finished about 1 1/8 miles on Meydan’s good turf in
1:50 1/5 to earn his second top-level victory, and his fourth career stakes
score overall.

Ryan Moore finds a way to conjure the best from Presvis (Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club) “He has to be ridden that way and it’s always a question whether he gets the gaps or not,” Cumani said. “My heart was in my mouth at the top of the straight, because it looked like he might have been held up, but Ryan got him there at the end. Ryan always rides him like that and he was absolutely fantastic on him tonight.” “I thought we had it,” jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe said of his view from River Jetez. “At about the 200 meters, I thought surely there’s nothing that could get us, but Previs came to me. He’s just a really, really good horse. He’s a freak, but my mare ran superbly.” River Jetez crossed the wire 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Wigmore Hall and Royal Bench, who both caught fire a fraction too late after finding different sorts of trouble. Wigmore Hall, beset by a traffic snarl, recovered to overtake Royal Bench by a neck for third. “He got murdered at the top of the home straight,” said Michael Bell, Wigmore Hall’s trainer. “He could not get out, but he has run very well. He ran a great race. It’s a bloody good check and he ran a blinder. He’s proved this is his level.” “He’s brave because he got his head in a space where he shouldn’t have,” rider Jamie Spencer said of Wigmore Hall. “I needed a helicopter to get out of there, but that’s the nature of the beast and you can’t be too disappointed with that.”

“(Royal Bench) started well, but then he had a little trouble after one
furlong,” jockey Olivier Peslier said. “A lot of other horses were coming in on
him at the rail and he stopped. But after that, he came on well in the stretch.”

Victor’s Cry (Street Cry [Ire]) reported home another 1 3/4 lengths adrift in
fifth. Next came Mendip (Harlan’s Holiday), Strawberrydaiquiri, Beauty Flash,
Beethoven (Ire) (Oratorio [Ire]), Rajsaman (Linamix), Raihana (Elusive Quality),
Tazeez, Bankable (Medicean), Better Than Ever, Debussy (Ire) (Diesis [GB]) and
Derbaas (Seeking the Gold).

“(Beauty Flash) was a very brave horse — very honest,” jockey Gerard Mosse
said. “He has won three Group 1s, but today we ran over a longer trip. It’s just
a a little bit long for him.”

Presvis, a star performer for the past two Carnivals, now boasts a 9-5-2-1
mark in Dubai, and his career record stands at 23-8-6-3, $6,496,386. The bay
first attracted attention as a rapidly-improving handicapper in 2008, an
impression confirmed by his seven-length romp in the John Smith’s heritage
handicap at Newbury, and he made his mark at the top level in 2009. He finished
a terrific runner-up in that year’s Dubai Duty Free at Nad al Sheba, then
captured the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-G1) at Sha Tin, and later took runner-up
honors in the Singapore Airlines International Cup (Sin-G1) and Churchill S. and
placed third in the Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1).

After a cozy victory in the 2010 Jebel Hatta (UAE-G2), he was a luckless 11th
in the Duty Free, and his subsequent performances weren’t much better. Fifth as
the defending champion in the April 25 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, he filled that
same spot in the May 15 Singapore Airlines International Cup and wound up ninth
in the June 16 Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot.

A spell on the sidelines was in order, and Presvis duly returned with all of
his old sparkle. Reappearing in the January 27 Al Rashidiya (UAE-G2) over this
course and distance, he exploded to a 4 3/4-length triumph. He couldn’t follow
up in the March 3 Jebel Hatta (UAE-G2), but was beaten only a neck in third by
Wigmore Hall, and gained sweet compensation here.

“I owe this horse too much and he will head out to Hong Kong now for the (May
1) QE II Cup,” Cumani said. “He’ll then go to Singapore and head home to
the stud before starting out again.

“The only shame is that the Hong Kong race is on the same day as the English
Guineas (Eng-G1) so I do not know who will ride.”

Bred by Mrs. M. Campbell-Andenaes in Great Britain, Presvis twice toured the
Tattersalls auction ring, fetching $29,628 as a December weanling and $55,317 as
an October yearling. He is out of the winning Never So Bold (Ire) mare Forest
Fire, whose latest is a juvenile colt named Forest Row (Cockney Rebel). Presvis’
third dam is Norsk Oaks heroine Twins’ Fire (Firestreak).