Folkswood (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) advertised himself admirably on the world stage last year, winning the Listed Cranbourne Cup in Australia before finishing third behind Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Cox Plate and a narrowly beaten fifth in the G1 Emirates S. during Melbourne Cup week, and the 5-year-old gelding will take another shot at Group 1 company in the Jebel Hatta S. on Super Saturday Mar. 10 after winning Thursday's G3 Dubai Millennium S. at Meydan. Folkswood allowed Special Fighter (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Light the Lights (SAf) (Western Winter) to lead him down the backstretch of the 2000 metre race while bottled up on the fence. Trapped inside by Saeed bin Suroor's Leshlaa (Street Cry {Ire}) midway down the stretch, Folkswood and William Buick were able to capitalize on a gap between Light the Lights and Special Fighter as both began to tire. Folkswood and Leshlaa swallowed up the Mike de Kock charge Light the Lights and battled down to a nose on the wire.
Folkswood made little impact over seven furlongs to a mile early in his career, but he began to show signs of life when tried beyond a mile towards the end of his 3-year-old campaign. He won a handicap going 1800 metres here last February before running the subsequent triple Group 1 winner Decorated Knight (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) to a neck when second in the G1 Jebel Hatta S. Six weeks later Folkswood was a narrow second in Newmarket's G3 Earl of Sefton S., and he filled third in the G3 Huxley S. when given an extra furlong and a half. He was fifth over 1700 metres in Epsom's G3 Diomed S. in June prior to his Australian soujourn, and seems to have found a home over this distance.
Thursday, Meydan, Dubai
DUBAI MILLENNIUM S. (SPONSORED BY DISTRICT ONE MANSIONS)-G3, $200,000, MEY, 2-22, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 2000mT, 2:02.33, gd.
1–FOLKSWOOD (GB), 126, g, 5, by Exceed and Excel (Aus)
1st Dam: Magic Nymph (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Balisada (GB), by Kris (GB)
3rd Dam: Balnaha (GB), by Lomond
(160,000gns yrl '14 TAOOCT) O-Godolphin; B-Hascombe &
Valiant Studs (GB); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: SW & MG1SP-Aus, MGSP-Eng,
16-5-4-4, $715,159. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Leshlaa, 125, c, 4, Street Cry (Ire)–Vine Street (Ire), by
Singspiel (Ire). O-Godolphin; B-Darley (KY); T-Saeed bin Suroor.
$40,000.
3–Earnshaw, 126, h, 7, Medaglia d'Oro–Emily Bronte (GB), by
Machiavellian. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al
Maktoum; B-Darley (KY); T-Salem bin Ghadayer. $20,000.
Margins: SHD, 1 3/4, NK.
Also Ran: Team Talk (GB), Light the Lights (SAf), Al Sahem (SAf), Carry On Deryck (GB), Special Fighter (Ire), Jubilance (Ire), Gilt Complex (NZ).
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Pedigree Notes…
Folkswood is the first produce of the unraced Magic Nymph, who is herself a daughter of the G1 Coronation S. winner Balisada (GB) (Kris {GB}) and a full-sister to the G3 Glorious S. winner Galactic Star (GB). The good producer Inchmurrin (Ire) (Lomond) appears under the fourth dam, she responsible for Group 3 winner and sire Inchinor (GB) (Ahonoora {GB}) and the stakes-winning Incheni (Ire) (Nashwan) and Ingozi (GB) (Warning {GB}). Magic Nymph has an unnamed 2-year-old full-sister to Folkswood and a yearling filly by Zoffany (Ire). Folkswood's mating mirrors that of a Godolphin luminary of last year, Barney Roy (GB), who is by Exceed and Excel's son Excelebration (Ire) out of a daughter of Galileo.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
