DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Sibelius slipped up the rail and denied 9-year-old Switzerland his second straight win in the Group 1, $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen on Saturday at Meydan.  Ryan Moore, picking up a rare dirt-sprint mount, won his second race on the card, following a brilliant ride aboard Broome in the Dubai Gold Cup, a two-mile turf race. The win by Sibelius easily was the most important in the career of trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer, a former jockey in England and Ireland who began training in 2014. O’Dwyer had saddled two winners in 2023 before Sibelius prevailed by a nose. Moore got the mount Saturday night because regular rider Junior Alvarado had commitments at Fair Grounds.  Both trainer and horse were unaccustomed to Grade 1 company: Sibelius, a 5-year-old gelding, had never raced above the Grade 3 level, though he did win the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes late last year at Gulfstream Park. Sibelius pressed the pace in that start and led all the way winning the Pelican Stakes last out at Tampa Bay Downs, but he was forced into more difficult circumstances after breaking from post 1 in the Golden Shaheen, run at 1,200 meters, or about six furlongs.   “He stepped a half-beat slower than I liked,” said Moore.   :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Instead of leading, Sibelius found himself stuck on the inside behind horses, losing a length or so as front-runners Hopkins and Sound Money leaned into the turn and dropped down toward the inside. As Moore kept busy on Sibelius to maintain position, O’Dwyer wasn’t pleased.  “I wasn’t happy,” O’Dwyer said. “Ryan was niggling him the whole way. I was hoping he’d have a chance to take a hold of him and fill his lungs and maybe get a breather. It didn’t happen that way. But that’s why Ryan is probably the best jockey in the world. He never gives up.” Hugging the rail, Moore found room at about the furlong grounds when Hopkins, having disposed of Sound Money, was taken outside a bit to engage the horse to his outside, Gunite.  “He put his head down and he showed his bravery,” Moore said of Sibelius.   Speaking of bravery, Switzerland overflows with it. In his seventh year of racing, the one-time American runner had started but once, on Jan, 6, since a surprise victory in the 2022 Golden Shaheen. Racing from mid-pack and near the rail, Switzerland and jockey Tadgh O’Shea found themselves stuck between two horses partway around the turn. Extricated from that traffic, Switzerland was guided to the far outside in upper stretch. He finally leveled off before the 200-meter mark, and really hit high gear. With Hopkins and Gunite spent, Switzerland came barreling home outside them, but Sibelius on the fence got his head down at the wire. Some suspense lingered while the photo finish was examined, but Sibelius looked from the start to have gotten the bob.  “It was very tight,” O’Shea said. “You’re never quite sure, but, unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of it.” Hopkins had to work to make the lead and held well racing for the first time at the highest level. Gunite, who looked on paper the most likely winner, stalked the pace while wide after breaking from post 12, was late to change leads, momentarily looked like he’d win, but couldn’t finish with the top two.  “We had to use him a little more than we wanted from that post,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.  Sibelius, by Not This Time out of Fiery Pulpit, by Pulpit, is owned by Jun Park and Delia Nash. He was clocked over the 1,200 meters in 1:10.69, about standard for this race, and paid $19.60.   Sibelius once was a pace-and-fade type.  “This time last year he wasn’t the same horse,” O’Dwyer said.” He wouldn’t have done what he did tonight. Now, he’s just battled hardened. He likes a dogfight now, and he doesn’t lie down.”  O’Dwyer can lie down Saturday night knowing he just won a $2 million race.  Al Quoz Sprint Danyah, sixth and 13th in the only group-race starts of his career, scored a stunning 68-1 upset in the Group 1, $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint.  :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  Always prominent under Dane O’Neill in the straight six-furlong turf race, Danyah came out on top of a three-horse blanket finish, with the Australian horse The Astronomer missing by a nose and Al Suhail, co-favored at 5-2, a neck farther back in third. The Hong Kong horse Sight Success ran well for fourth, while Al Dasim, a three-time winner here this winter, didn’t come close to becoming the first 3-year-old winner of the Al Quoz, checking in seventh. Cazadero, the race’s lone American, was 14th of 15.  Danyah won here in February, but was a well-beaten eighth earlier this month in the Ras Al Khor Stakes. He was racing a straight six furlongs on turf for the first time since late summer 2019. The 6-year-old gelding, by Invincible Spirit out of the Galileo mare, Cuis Ghaire, paid $139.40. Danyah is trained by Musabbeh Al Mheiri for his breeder, Shadwell. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.