Measured Time leads Godolphin brigade of stakes winners on Meydan card

Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby, and jockey William Buick, pillars of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, dominated an all-stakes card Friday at Meydan Racecourse, winning four of eight Thoroughbred races, all on turf, including the Group 1 Jebel Hatta, where the rising 4-year-old Measured Time was tons the best.

Measured Time won the Jebel Hatta over 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) by 1 3/4 lengths, his fifth win from six starts and second this winter in Dubai. While Measured Time looked like a horse for the $5 million Dubai Turf on the World Cup card March 30, the filly Mawj ran like a horse who will be getting a long break before racing again. Mawj stalked a runaway leader from second and was in contention until upper stretch, but faded steadily to the finish and was all but eased across the line in last.

The card’s other Group 1, round 2 of the Al Maktoum Challenge, produced a winner who could have a say in the World Cup itself, Kabirkhan, who was bet to odds-on favoritism and ran to his price, racing smoothly away to a 4 3/4-length victory over Franz Strauss in this 1,900-meter dirt contest. The American horse Clapton finished a neck farther behind in third, a solid showing after a very wide trip in his Dubai debut.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Kabirkhan has won 10 times from 11 starts, though it’s hard to imagine how he was once defeated. By California Chrome out of Little Emily, by Castledale, Kabirkhan was purchased at Keeneland’s September 2021 yearling sale for a mere $13,000. He races for a Chechen owner, Tlek Mukanbetkaliyev, and made his first nine starts in Russia, winning eight in a row before falling to a horse named Hero Mo in a 2,400-meter race on Sept. 9. Both Kabirkhan and Hero Mo subsequently were sent to trainer Doug Watson in Dubai, and in a Jan. 12 handicap, Kabirkhan won by five lengths over Hero Mo.

Friday’s race marked a considerable step up in class – and Kabirkhan won in a breeze. Breaking a touch slow from post 3 under Pat Dobbs, Kabirkhan settled in fifth around the first turn, edging into closer contention down the backstretch and coming up three paths wide around the far turn to challenge for the lead. Kabirkhan hit the front after turning for home without being asked for anything, and Dobbs only needed to encourage the colt with his hands to open an insurmountable margin with 300 meters left to race. Watson, a former assistant to Kiaran McLaughlin, has trained in Dubai for many years and has seen plenty of high-quality dirt horses come into his yard.

“Doug said he’s never had one like him,” Dobbs said in a televised post-race interview.

Mysterious Night, who won the 2022 Summer Stakes at Woodbine as a 2-year-old, got things rolling for Buick, Appleby, and Godolphin with a one-length win in the seven-furlong, Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort. Star of Mystery, a 3-year-old filly, took full advantage of a 15-pound weight break from her older male rivals to finish with a flourish under Buick winning the Group 2 Blue Point Sprint over a straight five furlongs by 1 3/4 lengths. And in the nightcap, Buick got favored Siskany up in the nick of time to capture the listed Al Khail Trophy over 1 3/4 miles.

Measured Time, however, appeared the most important among the four Godolphin winners. The colt is by Frankel out of Minidress, by Street Cry, making him a half-brother to 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance. Measured Time was campaigned conservatively in England last year, debuting with a February win over the all-weather track at Kempton in February and only making his second start this past August. That Aug. 9 race also came at Kempton, but two weeks later Measured Time got a look on turf, winning a low-level handicap in a romp. He was put away again until November, finishing second in a Kempton start clearly meant to ready him for the winter, and after leading all the way Dec. 22 in the Al Rashidiya Stakes on Dec. 22, Measured Time settled well off the leader Friday while traveling like a winner the entire trip. Measured Time coasted to the lead at the 300-meter mark and comfortably held off runner-up Ottoman Fleet, a solid horse in his own right.

Mawj, making her first start since a close second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, went the wrong way Friday. Everything went right, especially Measured Time, for Godolphin, Appleby, and Buick.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.