Trainer Musabah Al Muhairi was firing on all cylinders on Meydan's Super Saturday card, providing three longshot winners, chief among those being Special Fighter (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who went wire-to-wire to win the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3. The winner of a Jan. 21 handicap but 12 lengths behind Frosted (Tapit) when sixth in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R2 Feb. 4, Special Fighter broke well under 2007 World Cup-winning jockey Fernando Jara and was allowed to stride up to the lead passing the stands the first time. The chestnut was about a length to the good down the backstretch, with Keen Ice (Curlin) poised three-wide and on the outside about two lengths off the lead. Last year's G2 UAE Derby hero Mubtaahij (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), looking to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the G3 Firebreak S. Feb. 4, sat midpack on the rail and Godolphin's Watershed (Bernardini) brought up the rear. While the GI Travers S. winner Keen Ice was already under pressure midway around the turn, Special Fighter was traveling sweetly, and he lengthened his advantage through the lane to win by 4 1/2 lengths on the wire with Hong Kong raider Gun Pit chasing in vain. Special Fighter was the fourth winner, of four dirt races on the card, to win on the front on the rail.
Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE R3 SPONSORED BY EMIRATES-G1, $400,000, MEY, 3-5, NH4yo/up & SH3yo/up, 2000m, 2:03.09, ft.
1–&@SPECIAL FIGHTER (IRE), 126, h, 5, by Teofilo (Ire)
1st Dam: Susu (GB) (Hwt. Older Mare-Eur at 7-9f, Hwt. Older Mare-Eng at 7-9.5f, GSW-Eng, $183,793), by Machiavellian
2nd Dam: Home Truth (GB), by Known Fact
3rd Dam: Dance Card (GB), by Be My Guest
O-Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Darley
(IRE); T-Musabah Al Muhairi; J-Fernando Jara. $240,000.
Lifetime Record: 17-5-2-0, $386,679. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gun Pit (Aus), 126, g, 5, Dubawi (Ire)–Magic Tori (Aus), by
Ali-Royal (Ire). (A$65,000 yrl '12 INGFEB; NZ$250,000 2yo '12
NZBNOV) O-Cheng Chung Wah; B-A Smeaton (AUS); T-Caspar
Fownes. $80,000.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]
3–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. $40,000.
Margins: 4HF, 2 3/4, NK.
Also Ran: Mubtaahij (Ire), Munaaser (GB), Watershed, Keen Ice, Storm Belt, Haatheq, Pylon (SAf), Gold City (Ire), Golden Soul.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Special Fighter, a winner on the Chengdu-Dubai card in China last April, took Meydan's Listed Entisar Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors S. over this trip second-up Dec. 17, but could manage only sixth when trying Group 2 company in the Al Maktoum Challenge R1 dropped back to a mile Jan. 7. Given 9 1/2 furlongs and a drop in class for a Meydan handicap Jan. 21, the chestnut was a five-length victor but again found himself in deep in the Al Maktoum Challenge R2. Al Muhairi revealed after Saturday's race that Special Fighter had lost shoes in Round 2, and jockey Fernando Jara was full of praise for his mount.
“He was absolutely spot on today,” said Jara. “I really did not expect to get such an easy lead and that was a real bonus. We have said all season we are not sure just how good he might be and tonight he was very good indeed. He just relaxed out in front and was always going well within himself. He then picked up well when I asked him. It was a great performance.”
Jara was philosophical when it came to his World Cup chances. “Obviously he has been beaten by Frosted, and California Chrome is very good, so the Dubai World Cup will be a much harder race, but we will just enjoy this occasion and look forward to that one,” he said.
Special Fighter brought up a Group 1 double for his sire, who was also responsible for the G1 Australian Guineas victor Palentino (Aus) earlier in the day.
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