Prince Bishop, a 17-1 outsider, won his first Group 2 stakes since 2010 with an upset in Thursday’s $250,000 Round 2 of the Maktoum Challenge at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
The Group 1 winners Dunaden, Heavy Metal, and Hunter’s Light are three of the 16 runners in Thursday’s $250,000 Round 2 of the Maktoum Challenge at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, a prep for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 29.
Making her first start since September 2012, the 4-year-old filly Certify made an excellent return to the races, scoring a measured three-quarter-length victory over longshot L’Amour De Ma Vie in the Group 2, $200,000 Cape Verdi Stakes on turf Thursday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
On Thursday, Trade Storm returns to his favorite course at Meydan as one of 12 entrants in the Group 2, $200,000 Al Rashidiya over about 1 1/8 miles.
Anaerobio, a Group 1 winner in Argentina in 2010, won his first group stakes in Dubai in Thursday’s $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort Stakes on turf at Meydan Racecourse.
Heavy Metal, winner of two Group 1 races in South Africa last year, and 2013 Royal Ascot winner Gale Force Ten are among 14 runners in Thursday’s $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
United Color won the featured Dubawi Stakes on Thursday at Meydan in Dubai, as the top three finishers from the 2013 Dubai Golden Shaheen all failed to show their best form.
The second Meydan card of the 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival features prep races for the UAE 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas, and the first stakes race of the season, the $150,000 Dubawi Stakes. The Dubawi includes the top three finishers – Reynaldothewizard, Balmont Mast, and Krypton Factor - from the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen last March.
The filly Shuruq beat males capturing the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 by three quarters of a length on Thursday’s first program of the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
Thursday’s seven-race card, headed by Round 1 of the Al Maktoum Challenge, marks the first of 11 programs – mostly Thursdays – at Meydan that comprise the Dubai World Cup Carnival.
