Dubai: Will Doyle play spoiler once again in Zabeel Mile?
The old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me,” doesn’t mention a third incident in the series of fooling actions. But here we are with the featured Group 2, $180,000 Zabeel Mile on Friday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where, for the third week in a row, bettors might assume that William Buick, nominally the top rider for the Charlie Appleby-trained wing of Godolphin, is riding Appleby’s top hope in the race.
That assumption proved faulty on Jan. 6, when Buick rode favored Noble Truth to a last-place finish in the Al Fahidi Fort and James Doyle rode the Appleby-trained Al Suhail to an easy win. It was wrong again, too, on Jan. 13 in the Al Rashidiya, which Doyle won on the Appleby-trained Valiance Prince as Buick’s favored mount, Ottoman Fleet, finished third.
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No doubt, Master of the Seas, Buick for Appleby and Godolphin, on paper is far superior to Modern News, Doyle aboard for the same connections, but let us not foolishly leap to conclusions in the Zabeel Mile, a one-turn turf race.
Both 5-year-old geldings return from layoffs, though Modern News raced much more recently having last seen action Aug. 11 in England, finishing second of just four runners in the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes over one mile at Salisbury. That sort of performance is just about the high-water mark for Modern News, but Master of the Seas has gone much better. Master of the Seas won twice at 2 before finishing fourth in the National Stakes in Ireland, and following one Dubai start early in his 3-year-old season, he returned to England winning the Craven Stakes and finishing second behind Poetic Flare in the 2000 Guineas.
Not much went right for nearly a year thereafter. Master of the Seas turned in lesser performances in September and October of 2021, was gelded in January 2022, and won well enough in the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes on April 12 at Newmarket. Long layoffs are of little to no concern with the Appleby yard, and this week, it does actually look like Buick is on the right horse.
Godolphin dominates the race entries, with Desert Fire, Land of Legends, and Laser Show starting for trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
The other runner of note is the Australian horse I Am Superman, second at the Group 1 level in his most recent start about four months ago at Caulfield.
Post time for the Zabeel Mile is 11:20 a.m. Eastern on a seven-race card that starts at 9 a.m. Catch all the action and DRFBets.com.
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