Reynaldothewizard makes it three straight Dubawi Stakes victories

True to his name, Reynaldothewizard does appear to possess magic powers – the gelding never ages. Making his first start of his 11-year-old season, Reynaldothewizard ran down Muarrab to win the listed Dubawi Stakes at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday for the third year in a row.

Coming from midpack under regular rider Richard Mullen, Reynaldothewizard took aim at Muarrab with about three-sixteenths of a mile left in the dirt race over 1,200 meters (about six furlongs), crept closer through the homestretch, collared Muarrab inside the final furlong, and went on to a popular half-length win, the crowd cheering the old warrior’s unflagging resolve.

Muarrab, who battled early with Desert Force and put him away before turning for home, is no slouch, either, having beaten X Y Jet in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup card last March. Satish Seemar trains Reynaldothewizard and campaigns him under the nom de course Zabeel International.

“I think there were plenty of people riding him home there tonight,” said Mullen, who has ridden Reynaldothewizard in all his starts since December 2010. “To keep coming back year-in and year-out, it’s a testament to everybody in the yard.”

Reynaldothewizard, an American-bred by Speightstown, began his career in New York during the 2008 season. This is his seventh winter racing in Dubai. He clocked 1:10.66 on a fast track, and surely will be aimed at the Golden Shaheen, a race in which he finished fourth the last two years after winning in 2014.

Wild Dude, the former American sprinter, finished third, with Desert Force a somewhat disappointing and one-paced fourth, perhaps at a distance short of his best.

The first race on the card, a one-mile dirt maiden race for 3-year-olds, produced a winner of note in Fawree. The second-time starter trained by Mike de Kock had finished second Dec. 29 making his career debut, but won Thursday night by five lengths while going easily through the homestretch. Fawree, ridden by Bernard Fayd’Herbe, was timed in 1:37.68 for the 1,600 meters around one bend on a fast track. Fawree was bred in the U.S. and is by Candy Ride out of the high-class race mare Keeper Hill. He was sold last spring at a 2-year-old auction for $240,000.