MASTER Of The Seas provided Charlie Appleby with his sixth win of the past decade in the $180,000 Group 2 Zabeel Mile yesterday, and William Buick has been in the saddle on five of them.

The Godolphin homebred five-year-old son of Dubawi was runner-up to Poetic Flare in the Group 1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in 2021, and had not been seen since winning the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes at the same venue last April, his only run in 2022.

Once he took the lead with a furlong and a half to run, Master Of The Seas looked the likely winner. He had half a length to spare over the David O’Meara-trained Shelir, with Michael O’Callaghan’s I Am Superman, fresh from racing in Australia and the mount of Colin Keane, four lengths off the winner in third.

Prior to the race Appleby had outlined his hopes for Master Of The Seas, saying: “His preparation has gone well, although we are very much working back from Dubai World Cup night and Super Saturday, so there will be some natural improvement from whatever he does here.”

The manner of this win would suggest that he will be a major player for some of the upcoming feature races at the Carnival.

Classic win

Making her first start since winning the trial for the $150,000 Listed UAE 1000 Guineas, Mimi Kakushi duly ran out a convincing winner of the classic on dirt over a mile, finishing four and a half lengths clear of the rest, led by Awasef and the once-raced Unjokable.

After she won on December 23rd, her jockey Mickael Barzalona said: “The extra furlong in the UAE 1000 Guineas will be a bonus, but the UAE Oaks will really suit her.” Now she will be favourite for the latter. Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Mimi Kakushi was sold twice by Fasig-Tipton, for $180,000 as a yearling and $250,000 as a breezer.

A daughter of City Of Lights, racing for owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and trainer Salem bin Ghadayer, Mimi Kakushi becomes the fourth stakes winner from the first crop of that Lane’s End stallion. Winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at three, and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at four, City Of Light rounded off his career with victory in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup.

Double Up

The classic win brought up a double on the card for the trainer and owner. They had earlier combined to win the $75,000 six-furlong handicap on dirt with Rawy, carrying the colours of RRR Racing. This was a second win for the four-year-old son of Frosted, and the first came at the corresponding meeting a year ago. Then he won the seven-furlong UAE 2000 Guineas Trial.

Godolphin enjoyed a big race double after the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Global Heat held his nine opponents at bay in the $100,000 Listed Al Khail Trophy. Patrick Cosgrave guided the seven-year-old son of Toronado to his second win in the UAE, the previous one also coming at Meydan two years ago. Placed a couple of times at Group 3 level, this was a first stakes win for Global Heat, and he becomes the third blacktype winner, after Agent Murphy and Media Storm, for his Dansili dam Raskutani. She had three stakes-winning siblings, notably the Group 2 Superlative Stakes hero Hatta Fort.

The Godolphin bandwagon continued, and Saeed bin Suroor brought up a double, when Danny Tudhope on Shining Light held off the fast-finishing favourite Spirit Of Light, with New Kingdom a close third in the concluding $80,000 seven-furlong turf handicap. Gordon Elliott’s Coachello finished in mid-division, while Michael O’Callaghan’s Fastnet Crown was in the money when finishing fourth.

Shining Blue, a five-year-old homebred by Exceed And Excel, ran up a sequence of three wins last year, and this run shows that he is back to his best. The race was marred by a serious injury sustained by Mick Appleby’s Edraak.

The Irish-bred Thunder Of Niagara finally made it to the winners’ enclosure in the UAE at the ninth attempt, the Ahmad bin Harmash-trained five-year-old running on to land the $75,000 five-furlong turf handicap by a length under Ray Dawson. The son of Night Of Thunder had won a juvenile maiden and a handicap at three for Mark Johnston, those coming over six and seven furlongs.

The day’s racing kicked off with the $40,000 Big Easy Arabian Sprint Championship over six furlongs on dirt for purebred Arabians. Victory went to the French-bred Leena, trained by Majed Al Jahoori for Yas Racing. Bernardo Pinheiro was in the saddle aboard the six-year-old homebred who soon led, ran on well with two furlongs to go, and was a comfortable winner on the line.