De Kock has triple threat for fourth straight Al Rashidiya
win
Mike de Kock is seeking a fourth consecutive victory in the
1800-meter Al Rashidiya S., one of two Group 2 turf features at Meydan Racecourse’s
fourth meeting of the 2015 Dubai World Cup Carnival on Thursday evening, and is
set to saddle three of the seven runners this year.
These include Mujaarib (Nadeem), something of a surprise winner in the race a year ago
for HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The owner’s retained jockey, Paul Hanagan, takes the ride this time with Christophe Soumillon having performed the
steering last year.
This year Soumillon rides Vercingetorix (Silvano), winner of last year’s Jebel
Hatta (UAE-G1) on Super Saturday before finishing an excellent second in the Dubai Duty Free
(UAE-G1) on Dubai World Cup night.
That was the bay’s first career defeat in his seventh outing before he was
subsequently third in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-G1) in Hong Kong.
That was back in April and Vercingetorix has been off since, while Mujaarib has not run
since Super Saturday in early March 2014.
“We have said many times Vercingetorix is a lazy work horse and nothing has
changed,” de Kock stated. “He has a touch of class and hopefully we will see that again on
Thursday. You cannot get excited with his work but it was the same last year and
he won well first time.
“The same applies to Mujaarib who showed little in the mornings last year before
surprising us in this race. Hopefully he will go well as he certainly seems to
run his best when fresh.
De Kock’s third runner, Sanshaawes (Ashaawes), the mount of Dane O’Neill, was
second in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (UAE-G1) last year and has the
benefit of a run already this season, finishing fourth in the Singspiel S. over
course and distance on January 8.
“Obviously Sanshaawes is likely to have a fitness edge,” de Kock noted. “He ran
well on the first night and has been in good form since. He had a good Carnival
last year and hopefully he can win a race this time.
“It is nice to have three genuine chances in such a big race.”
As well as winning the last three renewals, the South African has also won it on
a further three occasions whereas Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor is seeking
a fifth win in the race.
He relies on True Story (Manduro), the mount of James Doyle who was a winner of the Singspiel S. three weeks ago.
“He won well and we were very pleased with him,” bin Suroor said. “He is a
horse we have always really liked and he has been working well since. Obviously
it is a step up in class but we expect a big run from him.”
The 1600-meter Cape Verdi S. (UAE-G2), restricted to fillies and mares, has attracted a
field of eight with all but two trained in Europe. It looks wide open with dual
listed winner Zurigha (Cape Cross), a first UAE runner for Richard Hannon Jr. when well beaten last week,
looking to hold a major chance under Richard Hughes.
Wee Jean (Captain Gerrard), trained by Mick Channon and to be ridden by Hanagan, looks a big
danger. The same goes for Group 3 runner-up Anahita (Turtle Bowl), the mount of Mickael Barzalona
conditioned by Salem
bin Ghadayer, who celebrated his first winner as a trainer last Thursday.
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