A horse with stamina and ratable speed is a horse that can do some things, and when he gets the right conditions, Ghaiyyath can do a lot. Thursday, making his first start since distinctly not getting the right conditions in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October, Ghaiyyath mauled five overmatched foes in the Group 3, $200,000 Dubai Millennium Stakes, winning the 2,000-meter turf stakes by 8 1/2 lengths while clocking a Meydan course-record 2:00.33. Ghaiyyath came into this race the antepost favorite for the $6 million Sheema Classic on March 28 and came out of it looking like an even more formidable prospect for that 2,400-meter fixture – provided trainer Charlie Appleby can keep Ghaiyyath pointed the right direction over the next five weeks. Ghaiyyath, who does his best work freely galloping on the lead, as he did Thursday, runs best as a fresh horse, as he was Thursday, and over good-to-firm ground, as he got in the Dubai Millennium and is more than likely to find in the Sheema. Ghaiyyath couldn’t make the clear lead he wants and caught a very soft course when he finished 10th in the Arc. :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Appleby said after Thursday’s start, in which jockey William Buick mainly left Ghaiyyath to his own devices while galloping in the clear, that were his horse based in England he might well have brought him directly into the Sheema with no prep race. But back home there are uphill gallops and all means of getting a horse hardened for a comeback start off a training regimen alone. Appleby said that the manner of training in Dubai makes it more difficult to reach that end, and thus the fitness-forwarding comeback run Thursday. Ghaiyyath, owned by Godolphin, is a 5-year-old horse by Dubawi out of Nightime, by Galileo, and he won for the sixth time in nine starts. Ghaiyyath wasn’t the only blowout group-stakes winner on the Thursday night card, as the 3-year-old filly Down On Da Bayou won the Group 3, $250,000 UAE Oaks by 18 1/2 lengths, leading from the start under Mickael Barzalona. Down On Da Bayou had finished second in a pair of listed races during the 2020 World Cup Carnival and had been beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Dubai Love going 1,600 meters in the UAE 1000 Guineas. It’s safe to say Down On Da Bayou got her revenge going 1,900 meters around two turns on Thursday night, and she is not the first Meydan starter trained by Salem bin Ghadayer to pull a gigantic performance out of a magician’s hat.  Down On Da Bayou apparently will be cut back to 1,600 meters and run back on eight days’ rest in the Saudi Derby on Feb. 29 at Riyadh. Down On Da Bayou is by Super Saver out of Bayou Tortuga, by Empire Maker, making her a sister to Polar River, who won the UAE Oaks in 2016. Thursday’s racing also saw Zakouski win the Group 2, $250,000 Zabeel Mile, overcoming a traffic-filled homestretch run and his own lack of experience to get up by a neck over stablemate and race favorite Mythical Magic. Zakouski, with James Doyle riding for Godolphin and Appleby, raced along the inside most of this one-turn turf race, got trapped behind two leaders and a horse to his outside much of the stretch run, and failed to fully apply himself and properly lengthen his stride until inside the final furlong. Once Zakouski got going, he split horses just before the wire to get the win, galloping out several lengths in front and looking like a colt still very much learning the ropes just four starts into his career. Zakouski, by Shamardal out of O’Giselle, by Octagonal, has won three of those races and should still have more to find. Waady beat odds-on favorite Equilateral in the Group 2, $250,000 Meydan Sprint over a straight 1,000 meters on turf as the local turf-sprint contingent remained ill-defined heading into the Group 1 Al Quoz on the World Cup undercard. Blitzkrieg, trained by Doug O’Neill, finished a decent third.