By Kelsey Riley
Connections could be inclined to lament the gelding of a well-bred son of Frankel (GB), but that equipment change has undoubtedly made all the differences when it comes to the racetrack performance of Dream Castle (GB), and Saeed bin Suroor's 5-year-old remained unbeaten on the year and become his sire's sixth Group 1 winner in Saturday's Jebel Hatta S. at Meydan, the 1800 metre course and distance prep for the $6-million G1 Dubai Turf on Dubai World Cup night Mar. 30.
Meydan hosted seven such preps as part of its Super Saturday card in preview of its big night in three weeks' time, and Godolphin largely dominated with four wins. Those included last year's G1 King's Stand S. winner Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), who continued a seamless return in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint; Divine Image (Scat Daddy), who solidified her Classic credentials with a victory over the colts in the Listed Al Bastakiya, and Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), probably a top stayer in the making, in the G2 Dubai City of Gold. Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) was a non-disgraced second in the night's feature race, the $600,000 G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3, in preparation for the Dubai World Cup.
Dream Castle piqued interest when breaking his maiden at first asking at three before finishing second to Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) in the G3 Greenham S, and he was not disgraced in the G1 2000 Guineas, beaten 3 1/4 lengths in fifth behind Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The placing was the same and the margin similar in the G3 Jersey S. at Royal Ascot, and after finishing a close seventh in the G2 Lennox S. he rounded out his 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in Turkey's G2 International Topkapi Trophy.
Dream Castle made four starts at last year's carnival without making much noise, after which he was gelded and given a long break. Returning to action in the G3 Singspiel S. in his first try beyond a mile on Jan. 3, he was also the three-length winner of the G2 Al Rashidiya S. over this trip on Jan. 24.
Sitting last but the slow-starting Blair House (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) down the backstretch under Christophe Soumillon, Dream Castle was about six lengths off the lead heading into the turn and began to work his way forward outside rivals midway around the bend. Upon straightening he picked off horses with relative ease and, despite tiring a bit late on, held off a game Wootton (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) to win by 1 1/4 lengths.
“The trip [and the gelding] really helped him,” said bin Suroor. “Last year, we thought maybe he could be a sprinter, but I believe he's a nine furlongs-plus horse. This year he has shown he's a class, Group 1 horse.”
Soumillon added, “The last two runs were quite impressive. I was really confident with him today–even with that draw. The race went well for us. We had a nice pace. When I saw I was behind Wootton, I was very confident, because I knew he was going to take me quite far. When I asked him to go, he really quickened sharply. When I hit the front, he was looking around for a while. He's a really different horse compared to last year, when he was a colt.”
Pedigree Notes
Dream Castle is the second foal out of the G2 Flying Childers S. winner and G3 Princess Margaret S. third Sand Vixen (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The mare, who was herself raced by Godolphin, has an as-yet unnamed 2-year-old colt by Dawn Approach (Ire) and a yearling son of Dark Angel (Ire).
Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
JEBEL HATTA SPONSORED BY EMIRATES AIRLINE-G1, $400,000, Meydan, 3-9, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 1800mT, 1:48.17, gd.
1–DREAM CASTLE (GB), 126, g, 5, by Frankel%20(GB)#tot">Frankel (GB)
1st Dam: Sand Vixen (GB) (GSW-Eng, $119,931),
by Dubawi (Ire)
2nd Dam: Fur Will Fly (GB), by Petong (GB)
3rd Dam: Bumpkin (GB), by Free State (Ire)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Godolphin; B-Darley (GB); T-Saeed bin
Suroor; J-Christophe Soumillon. $240,000. Lifetime Record:
GSP-Eng & Tur, 13-4-2-1, $711,722. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Wootton (Fr), 126, c, 4, Wootton Bassett (GB)–American
Nizzy (Fr), by American Post (GB). O-Godolphin; B-SARL Ecurie
Haras De Quetieville (FR); T-Charlie Appleby. $80,000.
3–First Contact (Ire), 126, g, 4, Dark Angel (Ire)–Vanishing Grey
(Ire), by Verglas (Ire). (€300,000 Wlg '15 GOFNOV). O-Godolphin; B-Peter McCutcheon & Andrew Rosen (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby. $40,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 3/4, 1 1/4.
Also Ran: Century Dream (Ire), Loxley (Ire), Majestic Mambo (SAf), Forest Ranger (Ire), Janoobi (SAf), Muzdawaj (GB), Blair House (Ire).
Click for the Emirates Racing chart, the Am West PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video.
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