Meydan: Prince Bishop jumps into Dubai World Cup picture

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.

Prince Bishop ran about 1 3/16 miles on the Tapeta Footings synthetic track in 1:55.67, setting a track record at a venue that opened in 2010.

The win makes the 7-year-old Prince Bishop a candidate for the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 29. Prince Bishop was seventh in the 2012 Dubai World Cup.

Ridden by Kieren Fallon in Thursday’s race, Prince Bishop raced in the middle of the 16-runner field before taking the lead with more than three furlongs remaining. Prince Bishop held off a late run from 3-1 favorite African Story to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Prince Bishop and African Story are owned by the Maktoum family’s Godolphin Racing and trained by Saeed bin Suroor. Zambucca, a 50-1 outsider, finished third.

Godolpin and bin Suroor also finished fourth with Hunter’s Light, the winner of the Round 2 of the Maktoum Challenge in 2013 and a Group 1 winner in Italy in 2012.

The race drew a strong field. Dunaden, the winner of the 2011 Melbourne Cup in Australia, finished sixth.

Thursday’s win was the first in a group stakes for Prince Bishop since the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton Park in England last fall. Prince Bishop won the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris at Longchamp Racecourse in October 2010.

Godolphin and bin Suroor won three of the six Thoroughbred races at Meydan on Thursday. They teamed to win the $250,000 United Arab Emirates 1000 Guineas over a mile on the synthetic track with Ihtimal, the 5-4 favorite.

Ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, Ihtimal won by 3 1/4 lengths over the South African filly Mensoora. Ihitmal, by Shamardal, won two stakes in England last year – the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket last August and the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster last September.