Al Satwa goes gate to wire in Listed Port Island Stakes

Al Satwa recorded his second Listed victory of 2022 as he readily made all in the Port Island Stakes at Chukyo, Japan, on Sunday, 2 October.

The Takashi Saito-trained five-year-old, successful in the Listed Osakajo Stakes at Hanshin in March, broke on terms and was immediately sent on into a length lead.

Al Satwa travelled strongly in front and opened up daylight over his 11 rivals after kicking for home with a furlong and a half to race.

Hideaki Miyuki was able to ease the Rulership entire close home for a cosy three-quarter length success in the mile contest.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “Al Satwa is clearly getting better with age! He has won four times over 10 furlongs and once over nine but incredibly this was his first run over a trip this short. The reason for this was that we were not confident that he was yet fully match fit after a while on the sidelines due to a bleeding episode. However, he did it so well today that he is now likely to be aimed at the G2 Fuji Stakes over today's trip.”