Dubai: Frankie Dettori notched a 100th Carnival success as Saturday's Meydan race meeting provided retaining stable Godolphin with what appeared to be another attractive clue for this month's Dubai World Cup.
The mercurial Italian rider, whose first Dubai Carnival victory came in 2004, when he rode Catsart to land the UAE 1,000 Guineas at Nad Al Sheba, reached the personal milestone when partnering Tahaamah to win the 2200m Mustaqbali handicap on the All-Weather.
"It's great to register 100 winners and it has been a real team effort since the first Carnival in 2004. I want to thank them for all the support that they have given me," said Dettori after treating the lively crowd to his trademark flying dismount. "The Carnival has been a good hunting ground for us."
Commenting on Tahaamah's win, he added: "The horse was very unlucky last time and deserved a change in fortune. He carried me nicely to the front and then quickened well to win his race before perhaps getting a bit lonely in front."
The winner is trained by Saeed Bin Surour at Godolphin's winter training base at Al Quoz and the handler completed a double when new recruit Silvestre De Sousa rode Wealthy to win the concluding 1900m Al Dana Visa Infinite Card handicap.
Bin Surour leads the Carnival table with 24 winners, one clear of his Godolphin workmate Mahmoud Al Zarouni, who collected his 23rd success of the term courtesy of Simon De Montfort, an impressive winner of the $175,000 (Dh642,775) Al Dana Wealth Management race on turf.
Course record
The winner set a course record when winning the same conditions event last season and may well have earned himself a ticket to the Dubai World Cup meeting with his latest performance, where he rallied from last to first under Mickael Barzalona for a length victory over Mikhail Glinka.
Al Zarouni, who is steadily assembling a strong team for the March 31 meeting, said: "We have always thought that Simon De Montfort is a nice horse, but he's also a soft horse. He ran one good race last year and then he looked sick. Hopefully he's is a bit stronger this year and we will see how he is after the race.
"Providing that he is OK, I hope that we might have a Dubai World Cup night horse. It depends what the handicapper does as well, because he was rated 104 going into this race and I don't know whether he will be rated high enough to get into the Dubai Sheema Classic [Group 1]. We will have to wait and see.
"If he is not rated highly enough for the Dubai Sheema Classic, then we will take him back to Europe."
Bin Surour won the 2011 running of the Dubai Sheema Classic with Rewilding. Other notable winners of the race include Fantastic Light (2000), Sulamani (2002), Nayef (2003), Phoenix Reach (2005) and Dar Re Mi (2010).
Also among the winners on Saturday was champion trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe, who completed a double.
RESULTS
Race 1 - Attijari Al Islamia Maiden (1900m) All-Weather): 1. Hadba (A Al Raihe) S De Sousa; 2. Cool Wind; 3. Earth Tour; 4. Race To Dubai. Distances: 12.75Length, 1.25L, 1L. Time: 02:00.03secs.
Race 2 - CBD World MasterCard Handicap (1600m) All-Weather: 1. Rutland Boy (A Al Raihe) J Spencer; 2. Maath Gool; 3. Furnace; 4. Kawssaj. Distances: 6.25Length, 0.75L, Neck. Time: 01:36:75secs.
Race 3 - Mustaqbali Handicap (2200m) All-Weather: 1. Tahaamah (S Bin Surour) L Dettori; 2. Paschendale; 3. Bawadi; 4. Jamhoori. Distances: Neck, 3L, 1.25L. TimeL: 02:17.80secs.
Race 4 - Attijari Points Rewards Programme Handicap (1200m) All-Weather: 1. Celtic King (M Al Muhairi) M Demuro; 2. Ahtoug; 3. Murheb; 4. Hajoum. Distances: 0.5Length, 1.25. Neck. Time: 01:11:50secs.
Race 5 - Al Dana Wealth Handicap (2000m) Turf: 1. Simon De Montfort (M Al Zarouni) M Barzalona; 2. Mikhail Glinka; 3. Anaerobio; 4. Quick Wit. Distances: 1.25Length, 2.25L, 2L. Time: 02:03:93secs.
Race 6 - Al Dana Visa Infinite Card Handicap (1900m) All-Weather: 1. Wealthy (S Bin Surour) S De Sousa; 2. Sharaayeen; 3. Izaaj; 4. Dr Faustas. Distances: 3.25Length, Short Head, 0.5L. Time: 01:59:24secs.
