Impressive G3 success for Comicas in Dubawi Stakes

Comicas ran on powerfully to gain a first G3 victory in the Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs on dirt at Meydan, UAE, on Thursday, 18 January.

The five-year-old sprinter, runner-up over the same course and distance in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in March, was slightly awkward leaving the stalls but soon recovered to race in fourth on the outside of the seven-strong field.

Comicas, trained by Charlie Appleby, was pushed along by William Buick turning for home and had four lengths or so to make up after straightening up.

The son of Distorted Humor quickened strongly to collar the leader Muarrab with 100 yards to race and won going away by a length and a quarter in 1m 12.44s.

Charlie Appleby commented: “We were very pleased with Comicas going into the race and confident that he would be come on for his first run out here. 

“He weighed in a bit heavy last time and has come forward at home since then. The team have done a great job with him.

“As William said to me afterwards, he loves to have plenty of space in his races. We knew they were going pretty hard up front and William was just holding on to their coat tails. 

“When they straightened up, I was confident he would hit the line strong as he has won over seven furlongs. 

“I was confident that we would be closer to Muarrab today, although at this level I wasn’t confident that we would reverse the form with him. 

“We were very happy with the horse and a repeat performance of his Golden Shaheen run from last year was going to put him straight there. 

“I am not saying he is going to win a Golden Shaheen on the back of today’s run, but he is going the right way.

“All being well, we will see how he comes out of today and look towards World Cup night. He could maybe have one more run, we will see. The Al Shindagha Sprint (G3, 6f, 8 February, Meydan) would be a possibility. He had had two starts now and we will just see how he is – we could just keep him fresh for World Cup night.

“He had become a bit of a frustrating performer on turf, but has not looked back since we switched to dirt. He put up a couple of nice performances back in the UK on turf last year, but has taken off again since we switched back to this surface. He is a nice horse to have around.”

William Buick added: “Comicas is a lovely, honest horse who handles this surface very well. He has a big heart and tries hard.

“One thing we know about him is that he might be a bit rusty at the beginning, but he always comes home strongly. I angled him out away from the kickback.

“He is a horse who stays seven furlongs, so when they go a good, strong gallop, he is going to finish well. At the top of the straight, he was doing everything right and I was well on top at the end.

“On the dirt, it is a bit hard to judge exactly how much you are going to pick up. Halfway up the straight, I was really hopeful I would get there. The other three in front went quick and then stopped a little bit, but he came home real good. 

“I am very happy for the horse because he has run so many good races in defeat and really deserved this.

“He ran well in the Duke Of York Stakes on soft ground, which would not be to his liking. He is a Group One sprinter and it would be lovely to nick one with him.”