Godolphin Again Dominates Dubai Carnival: Derby Hope?

A pair of Godolphin runners hooked up in an eyeball-to-eyeball stretch battle before finishing 1-2 in the feature race as the Dubai World Cup Carnival rolled through its seventh session Feb. 25 at Meydan Racecourse.

Youth was served in the end as Royal Fleet , a 4-year-old Dubawi  gelding, got home first, a short head in front of Star Safari , a 6-year-old by Sea The Stars , in the Dubai Millennium Stakes Presented by Lincoln (G3).

The 2,000-meter turf event was the star attraction on a card that also saw Godolphin turn up a potential candidate for the Cazoo Derby (G1) at Epsom. A determined contender also made a case for a spot in the group 1 turf sprint on World Cup night.

In the Millennium Stakes, Royal Fleet and jockey James Doyle shadowed the early leader and took the lead at the top of the stretch. Star Safari, last year's winner, loomed up on his outside to grab the advantage briefly but Royal Fleet battled back through the final strides to secure the win.

It was Royal Fleet's third Carnival start following a pair of runner-up showings. Both the top two are trained by Charlie Appleby.

"He is a young, improving horse who has been progressing all year and everything fell into place tonight," Doyle said of Royal Fleet. "He has had to battle, in fairness, when Star Safari came to him. But he is definitely getting more professional with experience and racing."

Appleby and Doyle also combined for victory in the night's second 2,000-meter turf challenge, the Jumeirah Derby Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors. Nation's Pride, a Godolphin homebred colt by Teofilo , idled in midfield until the top of the lane, worked his way to the lead and got clear through the final 100 meters to win by 3 1/4 lengths from Sed Maarib.

Another of Appleby's, New Kingdom, went off as the favorite in the international pools and finished third with Frankie Dettori up.

After a second in his career debut last September at Yarmouth, Nation's Pride won twice on all-weather courses before being put away. The Jumeirah Derby was an impressive enough 3-year-old debut that Appleby cautiously inserted thoughts of Epsom into the post-race conversation.

"We know he stays well so this looked the right race for him and he has done it in pleasing style," the trainer said. "He was pretty fresh so it was pleasing and we will probably take him back to England and look at a Derby prep."

The 1,200-meter (about six furlongs) Lincoln Nautilus, a sprint down the Meydan turf straight, was viewed going in as a World Cup Night prep for Batwan  and the 7-year-old Kendargent  gelding did nothing to hurt his cause.

With Mickael Barzalona up, the gray veteran worked between rivals to the center of a three-horse sprint to the finish, prevailing by a short head over Jadwal with Taneen another neck back in third. The winner, previously based in France, made it 2-for-2 during the Carnival.

"We are hoping to run him in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1)," said trainer Nicolas Caullery, "but we will have to see how the handicapper reacts. But we will not run him next week on Super Saturday."

The Super Saturday program March 5 at Meydan closes out the World Cup Carnival with virtual auditions for most of the races on World Cup Day three weeks later.

In other races on the Feb. 25 card, Summer Is Tomorrow was the easiest of winners in the 1,400-meter (about seven furlongs) Al Karama Stakes Presented by Lincoln Corsair, a turf event for 3-year-olds; Law of Peace rallied from last to land the Lincoln Navigator Handicap at 1,600 meters (about one mile) on the dirt; and Notre Dame  scored a two-length upset win for trainer Doug O'Neill in the Lincoln Aviator Stakes at 1,200 meters on the dirt.