Dubai: Team Godolphin’s Safety Check, a dual winner at Meydan Racecourse during the Dubai World Cup Carnival earlier this year, had to be content with a fifth-place finish in the Group 1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin, Hong Kong on Sunday.
Ridden by leading Australian jockey James McDonald, the five-year-old son of Dubawi did not enjoy the best of trips but despite that stayed on well to finish among a quartet of horses who chased home the impressive Japanese-trained winner Maurice.
Hong Kong trained Contentment was two lengths back in third under Brett Prebble with another local hope, Packing Pins a close third for French veteran Gerald Mosse.
Another locally trained horse, Beauty Only had half a length to spare to Safety Check, who won the Al Fahidi Fort (G2) and Zabeel Mile (G2) during the Carnival. He is trained by Charlie Appleby at Godolphin’s Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, England.
Maurice was returning from a five-month absence to beat a world class field in the prestigious race that car-ries a rich purse of HK$ 14million (Dh 6.61m). The Mile is the third leg of the four race Asian Mile Chal-lenge, preceded by the Dubai Turf (formerly Duty Free Stakes) and followed by the Yasuda Kinen.
The winner was ridden with supreme confidence by Joao Moreira who said: “He gave me an unbelievable feeling, it was really incredible. He travelled smoothly just in behind the leaders and I always had them covered.
“I knew that any time I pressed the button he would quicken up and go past them. The way he races I see no reason why he wouldn’t go (stay) further than the mile.
“Good horses like him make a jockey’s life so much easier. He is undoubtedly right up there with the best I have ridden.”
Meanwhile, Australian speedball Chautauqua staked his claim as one of the sprinters in the world when bolting home to land the Chairman’s Sprint Prize.
His connections reacted by announcing that the grey will now be aimed at the Royal Ascot’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes on June 18, in which he would try to emulate the legendary Black Caviar who won this. Michael Hawkes, who trains the horse together with his brother and father, said: “Plans are in progress and let’s see how he pulls out in the morning, but all things being equal were heading to Europe next.
“Obviously, we see how he pulls up in the morning but there’s about two million reasons to go now,” Hawkes added referring to the Global Sprint Challenge bonus of $1 million allocated to horses recording victories in the selected contests in three different countries.
