Meydan: Safety Check repeats in Al Fahidi Fort

Safety Check won the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort Stakes for the second year in a row on Thursday night at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, beating Harry’s Son by 1 3/4 lengths in the turf fixture over about seven furlongs.

Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin and ridden by William Buick, Safety Check picked up Thursday where he left off last year at Meydan. The 5-year-old won all three of his starts last winter at Meydan, going from the Al Fahidi Fort on to the Zabeel Mile, a race that once again will be his near-term target again this season.

Safety Check is a decent horse in England but excels at Meydan, which has a flat, left-handed track that’s often quick-playing, and thus generally very much unlike nearly all European courses.

“He just loves it in Dubai,” said Appleby. “The track itself and the style of racing really suits him.”

Safety Check broke sharply but was reined in to race mid-pack and about two paths off the rail as Ghaamer led Mastermind through down the backside and around the Al Fahidi Fort’s one turn, the pacemakers separating themselves from the pack for the first half-mile or so. The chasers began gaining before the field straightened for home, and by the time Safety Check had leveled off and gone for the finish, he had reached the front. Safety Check clearly held an advantage with a furlong left to run, and stayed clear the rest of the trip.

Harry’s Son, a 4-year-old South African import making his Dubai debut, held solidly for second after racing closer to the pace than Safety Check, and Mastermind stayed on for third over Anaerobio. Winning time on the “good” going was 1:22.77, a course record by .01 of a second.

Buick teamed with Saeed bin Suroor for another Godolphin win on Halfguinea in the last of seven races on the card. The other winners on a program fairly modest by World Cup Carnival standards were – in race order -- Respect Me, Roicead, Special Fighter, Sanshaawes, and Top Clearance.