LONDON: Godolphin will decide whether to race Dream Castle in the Group 1 Dubai Turf on World Cup night鈥╝t Meydan.
The Saeed bin Suroor-trained five-year-old won the Jebel Hatta on Super Saturday to open up the possibility of more success in two weeks鈥� time. Ridden by Christophe Soumillon, Dream Castle outfought fellow Godolphin horses Wootton and First Contact to win the nine-furlong turf highlight.
The son of Frankel had it all to do coming back from second-last with two furlongs to go, but displayed an impressive turn of speed to storm to victory, as he won by a length and a quarter from Wootton in 1 minute 48.17 seconds on good ground with First Contact in third.
Now the Dubai-based stable has to decide if Dream Castle will go for more glory on World Cup night.
鈥淒ream Castle is doing really well and he reminds me of Benbatl, who also won the Singspiel Stakes and Al Rashidiya last year before finishing second in this race,鈥� bin Suroor said.
鈥淚n the old days, some of the jockeys would get off Dream Castle and say that he was a sprinter and should be racing over five or six furlongs, but I believed that this distance would be his best trip.
鈥淲e have campaigned him over nine furlongs this year and he has shown his class, winning a Group 3, a Group 2 and now a Group 1 race. It is a great result for us.
鈥淲e will leave it to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed to make a decision, but we could take him to the G1 Dubai Turf (9f) on Dubai World Cup night.
鈥淎ll of the team work very well and this victory gives us lots of confidence.鈥�
Soumillon, who is looking for a good Word Cup night on March 30, declared: 鈥淭he last two wins were quite impressive and I was really confident with him, even with the nine draw.
鈥淭he race went well for us, with 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.
鈥淲hen I asked Dream Castle to go, he really quickened sharply. After I hit the front, he was looking around for a while. He is a really different horse compared with last year, when he was鈥╝ colt.鈥�
Meanwhile, Godolphin are hopeful Old Persian can grab glory on World Cup night with the four-year-old going in the Group 1 Sheema Classic. Ridden by William Buick, the Dubawi colt pipped鈥≧acing History on the line in a thrilling finish to win the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold race. That has made the 鈥淏oys in Blue鈥� excited about more success on World Cup night.
鈥淥ld Persian has a bright future ahead of him 鈥� he is already a three-time G2 winner now, having won at Royal Ascot and beaten Cross Counter at York before tonight,鈥� trainer Charlie Appleby said.
鈥淲e took the gamble of running him in the St. Leger last season, but the petrol gauge ran out 鈥╞etween the three-furlong and two-furlong pole that time, and we were very pleased with 鈥╤is preparation coming into this evening.
鈥淲e have our eyes firmly set on the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (1m 4f) on Dubai World Cup night, so hopefully there is still a little bit of improvement to come.
鈥淗e was a bit fresh in the paddock tonight and there should be a bit more to come.鈥�