Meydan: Forries Waltz helps de Kock dominate program

It was Mike de Kock night on Thursday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where de Kock won three races, finished one-two-three in a $120,000 handicap, and ran one-two-four in the featured Group 2, $200,000 Al Rashidiya Stakes, which de Kock won for the eighth time.

De Kock’s Thursday night success might have legs, too, as his first two home in the Al Rashidiya, Forries Waltz and Ertijaal, appear to have bright futures.

Both horses endured the brutal ship from South Africa to Dubai, which takes months and involves quarantine in Mauritius and England. Forries Waltz made the trip in 2014 and started only once last winter in Dubai, running poorly, but he won a one-mile turf handicap for horses rated 95-108 in his first start this winter, and improved on that performance Thursday.

Breaking from post 13, Christophe Soumillon managed to get Forries Waltz (by South African sire Greys Inn) into the two path while settling in eighth down the long backstretch run, and there the pair sat chilly until the field had made its way partway round the race’s one bend. Soumillon steered his mount out, and when let loose at the top of the homestretch, Forries Waltz delivered instant acceleration.

Ertijaal, meanwhile, also raced two wide under Paul Hanagan but he was in the race’s second twosome, lumbering a bit awkwardly around the turn. He, too, went for home after straightening up, but his turn of foot had less zip than Forries Waltz, and by the time Ertijaal was unwound, Forries Waltz was upon him. The winner pushed a quarter-length in front and though Ertijaal ran on, the top two much the best, Forries Waltz pushed out to a 1 1/4-length victory.

“The real class was Ertijaal on paper,” said de Kock. “With [Forries Waltz] you knew you had a racehorse on your hands, but how good he was we didn’t know.”

Forries Waltz could be a candidate for the $6 million Dubai Turf if he continues improving, while Ertijaal, starting for the first time since May, is a son of Hard Spun and could get a look on dirt.

“I’d expect a massive amount of improvement,” de Kock said of Ertijaal, a 4-year-old Australian-bred. “I thought it was a huge run. He’s had a great trip with the view he’s going to improve for the run. He was very green on the turn, on the wrong leg much of the way. I think he ran out of steam the last furlong. His style of running that could suit [dirt]. I suppose we’ve got nothing to lose giving it a try.”

Earnshaw just nipped the de Kock-trained Mujaarib for third in the Al Rashidiya, but a race later, de Kock managed to sweep the top three placings in a 1,400- meter turf handicap for horses rated 100-113. The 8-year-old veteran Anaerobio just did get up to edge longshot Banadeer, who improved massively stretching out from straight-course sprints to race around one turn. Royal Ridge completed the de Kock trifecta, as de Kock got this third win on the night to go with Forries Waltz and Alareef in the card’s first race.

American expatriate Cool Cowboy was a solid winner of a seven-furlong dirt race, while Fanciful Angel made a favorable impression capturing the nightcap, race 7. The Marco Botti-trained 4-year-old Fanciful Angel, Group 2-placed in Germany last year, was steadied in traffic midway through a one-mile turf handicap for horses rated 100-113, had to squeeze through a tight spot making his move in the homestretch, and ran out a game winner in his first start since Sept. 27.