Street Cry, 'Essence' win in Dubai

Essence Of Dubai and Street Cry obliged with victories at Nad Al Sheba Thursday night and will now both point for multi-million dollar races on Dubai World Cup night, March 23.

Running for the first time since finishing last in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Essence Of Dubai scored a hard fought victory over stablemate Firebreak in the $250,000 Group 3 UAE 2,000 Guineas. The winner of the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes when trained for Godolphin last year by Eoin Harty, Essence Of Dubai dueled through the final furlong and a half with Frankie Dettori just able to get the nose of the Pulpit colt down on the line. The time for the mile was 1:36.60. Both he and Firebreak will go next in the 1-1/4-mile UAE Derby, a Group 2 race worth $2,000,000.

The pair finished 2-1/4 lengths ahead of State City with three other Godolphin runners, Janadel, Dubai Tiger and Dubai Edition finishing fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Firebreak, who won the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville when trained last year by Ian Balding, is not nominated to the Triple Crown but there is a late nomination stage that closes March 30.

Street Cry, returning to the scene of his narrow loss to Express Tour in last year's UAE Derby, had no trouble defeating stablemate State Shinto in Round 3 of the Maktoum Challenge, a 1-1/4-mile Group 2 contest. Running for the first time since finishing second in Aqueduct's Discovery Handicap on October 31, Street Cry prevailed by 8-1/2 lengths while covering the distance in 2:01.25, a time .05 seconds faster than that recorded by Sakhee over the course and distance on Saturday.

Both Street Cry and State Shinto will join Sakhee in the lineup for the Dubai World Cup. They could be still joined by E Dubai, who has yet to make his 2002 debut.