Cocoa Beach takes UAE 1000 Guineas

Cocoa Beach turned the tables on Fiesta Lady in an intramural battle otherwise known as the UAE 1000 Guineas at Nad Al Sheba Thursday night.

The Chilean-bred Cocoa Beach corralled Fiesta Lady, her Argentine-bred stablemate, just inside the furlong pole and ran off with the $250,000 listed event by 5 1/4 widening lengths. It was another 11 lengths back to an uncompetitive Love of Dubai in third.

Both fillies are trained by Saeed bin Suroor, as Cocoa Beach is owned by Princess Haya of Jordan, while Fiesta Lady carried the Godolphin colors of her husband, Sheikh Mohammed. Fiesta Lady and Frankie Dettori assumed command at the three-eighths pole and looked home clear before Cocoa Beach and Ted Durcan ran them down. The winner covered the mile on a fast dirt track in 1:37.68.

First-time blinkers for Cocoa Beach - who had finished 3 1/4 lengths behind Fiesta Lady in their mutual Nad Al Sheba debut on Jan. 17 - aided her cause.A three-time Group 3 winner in Chile, Cocoa Beach will meet Fiesta Lady again in the 1 1/8-mile UAE Oaks on Feb. 28.

Earlier, Jalil, a Storm Cat 4-year-old who was a $9.7 million purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2005, set a track record of 1:42.15 in winning a 1 1/16-mile dirt allowance.

* Asiatic Boy, winner of the six-furlong Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint on Jan. 24, will have his final prep for the Dubai World Cup in the one-mile Group 3 Burj Nahaar on March 6, trainer Mike de Kock announced Friday.