Top Score and Viren’s Army lead home Meydan clean sweeps

Godolphin enjoyed a pair of clean sweeps at this week’s Dubai World Cup Carnival fixture at Meydan, UAE, on Thursday, February 23, with Top Score and Viren’s Army both leading home 1-2-3s for the royal blue silks.

Top Score edged out Fly At Dawn and Really Special as the trio dominated the finish to the seven-furlong Listed Meydan Classic on turf.

Successful over the same course and distance in the trial for this race on February 9, Top Score (Saeed bin Suroor/Adrie de Vries) broke slowly, switched to the inside rail and raced towards the rear of 11 runners as Fly At Dawn (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) took up the lead after a furlong. 

Fly At Dawn kicked for home entering the final quarter-mile but was collared with 75 yards left by Top Score, who ran on strongly to prevail by half a length in 1m 24.61s, with a head back to the staying-on Really Special (Saeed bin Suroor/Oisin Murphy). There was a further two and a half lengths to the fourth.

Saeed bin Suroor commented: “Top Score never shows a lot in the morning but he is a different horse on the racetrack and has improved physically out here in Dubai.

“We will see how he comes out of this race and talk to H H Sheikh Mohammed but he could back on dirt for the UAE Derby (G2, 9.5f, March 25) on Dubai World Cup Night.”

Adrie de Vries added: “This was a stronger race compared to the trial and I thought that it would be tougher for Top Score.

“I missed the break today but it worked out well because I could follow Really Special on the inside - Top Score can stop a bit in front but, as long as he can follow something, he is fine. He has tons of speed and it was only a matter of getting the space.

“He ran a good race on dirt from a wide draw in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial. If he had been drawn on the inside on that occasion, he would have gone close to winning.”

Viren’s Army gained an impressive success for Charlie Appleby in the Al Naboodah Harley-Davidson Trophy, with both Kidmenever and Huge Future finishing strongly to fill the places in the 10-furlong turf handicap.

Sent to the front early on by Colm O’Donoghue, Viren’s Army was headed by First Selection with seven furlongs left before regaining the lead just before entering the home straight.

Viren’s Army readily skipped clear of the field and was eased near the line for a very comfortable length and a half verdict over Kidmenever (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) in 2m 3.48s, with a further two lengths back to Huge Future (Saeed bin Suroor/Adrie De Vries). 

Charlie Appleby said: “We fancied Viren’s Army to run a big race on his first start but he didn’t see out the 12 furlongs on that occasion, which is why we dropped him back to a mile and a quarter.

“His homework had been good and we applied cheekpieces to help him travel. He has obviously got a bit of an engine and didn’t have anything around him, which suited. He got a nice lead off First Selection and picked up well.

“Both Viren’s Army and Kidmenever will start quarantine tomorrow and head back to England next month.

“Viren’s Army is a horse that we purchased for an international campaign and the long-term plan is to go to Australia for the spring carnival.”

Colm O’Donoghue remarked: “The cheekpieces helped Viren’s Army. I was able to get a breather into him when First Selection went to the front and he finished off the race strongly.

“He improved from his first run, is versatile between this trip and 12 furlongs and has got the early pace to get into a good position as well.”