Fourth winner for Godolphin provided by Kidmenever

Kidmenever landed the concluding 10-furlong turf handicap at Meydan, UAE, on Thursday, 1 March, providing Godolphin with a fourth winner on the evening. 

Partnered by James Doyle, the Charlie Appleby-trained five-year-old horse was settled in midfield on the outside as Mountain Hunter (Saeed bin Suroor/Pat Cosgrave) made the running.

Travelling well within himself rounding the final bend, Kidmenever moved into second on straightening up and went into the lead over a furlong and a half out. 

He ran on well to beat the persistent Baroot by two and a half lengths in 2m 3.19s, with a further two lengths back to Banksea (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), who stayed on from off the pace to be third of the 14 runners. Mountain Hunter finished fifth.

Charlie Appleby, after his third winner of the evening, reported: “The horses are in good form. James got a nice, clear run around the outside and, to be fair to Kidmenever, he has run better than we expected. 

“He travelled well on his last start, but we wondered if we were coming back a bit soon for him. 

“This was his last option of the Carnival and it is nice for the horse to get his head in front because he has been very consistent without quite finishing it off. 

“It was a good ride by James and nice to get another winner. 

“He will go into quarantine with a group of horses tomorrow and probably deserves a bit of a summer break. He went out to Australia, travelled back to here and will now head to Newmarket for a little rest.”

James Doyle added: “I planned to be much further forward, but Kidmenever flopped out of the gates. 

“They went a good pace early and then steady – I was wide with no cover and a bit further back than ideal. 

“He was taking me on a little, but I knew that the fractions were slow so I let him roll into it. 

“All Kidmenever does is gallop, so I found a nice little kick at the top of the straight and kept going.

“Charlie is doing a fantastic job, as are all the team at Marmoom, and we have been solid and consistent right the way through the Dubai World Cup Carnival.”