Final Song is impressive in UAE 1000 Guineas Trial

Filly kickstarts bin Suroor double on Carnival’s opening night.

Final Song finished with a flourish to run out an impressive winner of the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial on the opening night of the Dubai Carnival at Meydan.

Dominant on her Ascot debut last May, Saeed bin Suroor’s filly went on to be placed in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot and the Duchess of Cambridge at Newmarket, but disappointed on her most recent outing in the Oh So Sharp Stakes in October.

Making her first start on dirt, the 11-4 chance had plenty of ground to make up rounding the home turn, but displayed a smart change of gear in the hands of Christophe Soumillon to run down the leaders and pass the post with just under two lengths in hand.

“She handled the dirt really well, and a mile will be even better for her in the future,” said bin Suroor.

“The jockey gave her a good ride. We have seen she can be a nice filly in the future.”

Bin Suroor enjoyed a second winner on the card when Pat Cosgrave steered Major Partnership (8-1) to win the Meydan Challenge Sponsored By Emirates NBD Asset Management Handicap.

Cosgrave said: “I think he’s a better horse this year – he looks better and he’s moving better. I think the whole team were confident he’d take a bit of beating tonight.

“I got a lovely run down the fence, and it all worked out nicely in the end.”

Gladiator King made a winning Dubai debut in the Group Three Dubawi Stakes.

Formerly trained in America by Jaime Mejia, the son of Curlin was an 11-1 shot on his first appearance for Satish Seemar – and showed a willing attitude under Mickael Barzalona to fend off the challenge of 2-1 favourite Ibn Malik.

Doug Watson and Dane O’Neill combined to win the Emirates NBD Personal Banking Handicap with 8-1 shot Almanaara.

The seven-year-old had previously raced solely on dirt since his arrival in Dubai, but proved just as adept on turf as he registered a ready success.

Mick Appleby’s veteran sprinter Caspian Prince ran a fine race in second, but the Charlie Hills-trained favourite A Momentofmadness was only seventh.

Watson doubled up in the Emirates NBD Priority Banking Handicap as Grand Argentier (17-2) scooped top honours under Brett Doyle.

Bin Suroor had treble hopes in the closing Dubai Racing Club Classic, a Listed handicap – but it was two other Newmarket stables who dominated the finish, as David Simcock’s Universal Order swooped late to get the better of William Haggas’ Pablo Escobarr.

The latter tracked the pace set by Lucius Tiberius and appeared set to prevail but then had no answer late on to his fellow four-year-old – partnered by Richard Mullen.

Universal Order, gelded since he was last seen registering an impressive success in a Yarmouth handicap in September, showed a smart turn of foot on the turf to get the job done by a length and a quarter at 9-1.

He was fractious in the stalls, not for the first time in his career, and was last early until making his ground out wide.

Simcock said: “I thought gelding would sort all that out – (but) it obviously hasn’t.

“We’ve done a lot of work with the stalls, and it’s something we’re just going to have to manage.

“We hope coming out here will make a man of him. This isn’t an easy environment – there’s a lot going on, a lot of noise, the lights, the screens.

“So this (experience) can only help him in the future.”

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Saeed bin Suroor Christophe Soumillon Meydan

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