Sajjhaa, victorious in the Group 2 Cape Verdi and Group 2 Balanchine versus
The six-year-old mare was also giving the trainer/jockey tandem of Saeed bin
As Little Mike easily strode to the fore, he was stalked by Igugu and Sajjhaa.
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Taking the golden seam along the rail left open by Little Mike, Sajjhaa
powered 1 3/4 lengths clear of The Apache, replicating their one-two finish in
the Jebel Hatta. The daughter of King’s Best zipped about nine furlongs on the
turf in 1:47.93, eclipsing her own course record of 1:48.58 set in the
Balanchine.
“She’s a wonderful filly, full of heart, and it was a great performance,” de
Sousa said. “This filly is now four-for-four (in Dubai); she’s just improved and
improved since she came here. I had a good position early on and she made her
way through on the inside. She’s very tough and so genuine. I’m very pleased.”
Christophe Soumillon, who rode The Apache, was hoping that Sajjhaa would get
stuck on the fence.
“I was very pleased with the run,” Soumillon said. “My plan was to have my
horse a little bit closer tonight. The winner was on the rail and I’d hoped
she’d be kept there, but a gap opened on the inside and I knew it was all over
for me. The winner is very good.”
French raider Giofra performed best of the new faces by getting up for third,
three-quarters of a length off The Apache.
“I was very pleased with her run,” trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre said of
Giofra, “as she wasn’t quite ready as she had had a slightly interrupted
preparation, so her run was very good.”
Trade Storm closed well for fourth
and just missed getting third by a neck. Igugu crossed the wire in fifth and was
followed home by City Style, I’m a Dreamer, Wigmore Hall, French Fifteen,
Mushreq, Little Mike, Ocean Park, Fulbright and Aesop’s Fables.
Jockey Anthony Delpech believes that Igugu needs a step up in trip.
“I had a nice position in second,” Delpech said. “She battled away really
well in the straight. She gave me everything, but I think she wants further
now.”
Gary Stevens commented on Little Mike’s experience.
“I set a nice pace,” the Hall of Famer said. “They really quickened it up
around the 3 1/2, and they buried us in the stretch. They came to me quicker
than I thought and they got away from me.”
Sajjhaa now sports a mark of 17-8-4-0, $3,665,292. Initially trained by
Michael Jarvis, Sajjhaa romped in her career debut at three, earning a tilt at
the Group 1 Epsom Oaks. But the classic was a case of too much, too soon, and
she was eased when soundly beaten. Sajjhaa was stronger over the second half of
her 2010 campaign, capturing the Group 3 Premio Sergio Cumani and Dick Hern
Fillies’ Stakes and missing by a nose in the Rosemary Handicap.
Joining Godolphin for her four-year-old season in 2011, Sajjhaa was a fine
runner-up effort to Midday in the Group 2 Middleton at York and later returned
to the Knavesmire to take the Lyric Stakes. She raced only three times last
year. After resuming with another second in the Middleton, this time to Izzi
Top, Sajjhaa was not seen again until the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio in October,
where she wound up fourth on heavy going. She bounced back with a strong
performance in the November 10 Gillies at Doncaster, opening up a sizeable lead
before being caught late by Cubanita, and then headed off to Dubai.
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