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Today's Racing :

Herman Brown's Bankable strikes on the Meydan turf

On Friday night in Dubai Herman Brown made up for the disappointment of Bankable’s aborted Australian raid in November last year by sending the six-year-old Irish-bred horse out to win the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort over 1 600m on the Meydan turf.
Brown joins Mike de Kock as a three-time winner of this race having won it twice before with another Irish-bred horse, Linngari.
Bankable, a son of Medicean, settled at the back of the field under stable jockey Ryan Moore before running on well and becoming involved in a thrilling head bobbing dual with the de Kock-trained Imbongi.
Although Brown thought he had lost, the photo-finish showed that Bankable had his head down at the right time to deny the Summerhill-bred South African five-year-old gelding.
The fast finishing local horse, Ibn Battuta, was a head further back.
The South African contingent have enjoyed a far better Dubai Carnival this year than last when everything went wrong from delayed aeroplanes to continual respiratory problems with the horses due to the construction of Meydan going on nearby at the time.
Brown said the Dubai Duty Free, which he won two years ago with Jay Peg, had always been Bankable’s target and added he would probably go straight there being a horse that ran well fresh.
Bankable had been due to run in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes last November at Flemington Park in Australia on the Saturday before his Brown stablemate, Mourilyan, finished third in the Melbourne Cup.
However, he developed a hoof problem before contracting a mild bout of colic and had to be scratched.
Brown had said at the time: “It was so unfortunate as he had been so well in himself that I think he could have just about won it.”
On Friday night Bankable proved Brown’s high regard of him.
De Kock had two other second-place finishes on Friday night, including World Cup hopeful, Eagle Mountain, who performed creditably in his first attempt on a synthetic surface behind the unbeaten Godolphin four-year-old, Skysurfers, over 1 600m. On Thursday night de Kock won two races which included an ultra impressive victory in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas by last season’s Equus Champion Two-year-old colt, Musir.
De Kock described the Australian-bred son of Redoute’s Choice as “more classy” than his previous Dubai Carnival triple crown winner, Asiatic Boy.

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