One Man Band (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) produced a dominant front- running performance to lead home a 1-2-3 for trainer Doug Watson in the G2 Godolphin Mile. The 5-year-old entire broke well and was soon enjoying a nice rhythm up front under jockey Sam Hitchcott with stablemate Cool Cowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) tracking him throughout. Hitchcott kicked for home before the turn in and soon had his rivals in trouble. Kept up to his work, One Man Band crossed the wire fully five-lengths clear with Faulkner (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) running on from the pack to nab second from stablemate Cool Cowboy to give Watson the trifecta, in a time of 1:35:21. It was a memorable victory for British jockey Sam Hitchcott, who commented, “He jumped and traveled so good. He kicked off the turn and went well. His most awkward part in a race is usually jumping from the stalls but he was brilliant today. It's great for Doug and the team.”
Saturday, Meydan, UAE
GODOLPHIN MILE SPONSORED BY MEYDAN SOBHA-G2, $1,000,000, MEY, 3-26, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 1600m, 1:35.21, ft.
1–#@ONE MAN BAND (IRE), 126, h, 5, by Pivotal (GB)
1st Dam: Musicanna (GB) (MSW & MG1SP-Eng,
$191,737), by Cape Cross (Ire)
2nd Dam: Upend (Ire), by Main Reef (GB)
3rd Dam: Gay Charlotte (GB), by Charlottown (GB)
(€95,000 Wlg '11 GOFNOV) O-Sheikh Saeed bin Mohammed Al
Maktoum; B-Richard A Pegum (IRE); T-Doug Watson; J-Sam
Hitchcott. $600,000. Lifetime Record: 15-8-1-1, $908,619.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A.
[bullet ad=”mount-coote-stud-ireland-produces-winners”][bullet ad=”itm-g2-g3″]2–Faulkner (GB), 126, h, 6, Pivotal (GB)–Fibou, by Seeking the
Gold. O-Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Darley
(GB); T-Doug Watson. $200,000.
3–Cool Cowboy, 126, h, 5, Kodiak Kowboy–Grand Breeze, by
Grand Slam. ($110,000 Ylg '12 KEESEP) O-Zaur Sekrekov;
B-Columbiana Farm (KY); T-Doug Watson. $100,000.
[bullet ad=”columbianafarm-bredroaledraisedsold”]Margins: 4 3/4, NO, 4HF. Also Ran: Marking, Sloane Avenue, Prayer For Relief, Maftool, Gold City (Ire), God's Speed (Ire). Scratched: Le Bernardin.
Click for the Racing Post Result, the AM Wager PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Marking (Bernardini) was the strong market choice here based on his high-class U.S. form behind Runhappy (Super Saver) in the GI Malibu S. and his last-time win at Meydan Feb. 25, where he was dominant but also green and somewhat quirky. Having previously given trouble in the stalls, he broke satisfactorily from the gate on this occasion and had every chance, but came under strong driving fully two furlongs from home and struggled to make any real impression, ultimately finishing fourth. His jockey James Doyle reported, “He's a horse with an engine but he's seemed immature to me. Once we started to turn he started to get a few scoops of kickback and he just didn't face it and I felt I was beaten two strides.” For winning trainer Doug Watson it was a first winner on Dubai World Cup night and he said, “It's an amazing feeling and I don't think it will sink in for a while. The Maktoum family has given me an opportunity to train and I'm grateful for that. We've got a great group of owners who have given us some nice horses and we are very fortunate.” His winner, One Man Band was a €95,000 yearling purchase at Goffs Orby Sale by John Ferguson in 2011 and made an inauspicious start to his racing career, being well beaten in two Newmarket and Lingfield maidens for Charlie Appleby in 2013. Switched to the Watson stable, he improved for the change of scenery and the change of surface, breaking his maiden on the dirt at Meydan at the end of 2014. Having progressed through the ranks he made his stakes debut early last month when second to Confrontation (War Pass) in the G3 Firebreak S. He followed that with an easy six-length defeat of Heavy Metal (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in a Meydan handicap Feb. 25. Evidently still improving at the age of five, One Man Band posted a career-best on Saturday.
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