Crisford Duo Dominate Super Saturday, Eye Dubai World Cup Glory

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Since its inception in 2003, Super Saturday has always been more than just a dress rehearsal for one of the world's most talked-about race days. It is a moment of reckoning, the final, unforgiving audition before the $30.5 million spectacle of the Dubai World Cup meeting.

This year, it became something more personal: a chapter in the evolving legacy of horseman Simon Crisford, a man who has seen greatness up close. Crisford began his career as a journalist, a storyteller of the sport he would one day shape in one of the most influential roles in global racing as Racing Manager to the mighty Dubai-owned Godolphin stable. He was present for the triumphs of icons such as Dubai Millennium, Street Cry and Moon Ballad, horses who helped define Dubai's rise as a global racing capital.

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Now, alongside his son Ed, the story has turned a compelling new page in the presence of none other than His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the founder of Godolphin.

Two years ago, fate offered a glimpse of destiny when Crisford came within touching distance of claiming his first Dubai World Cup as a trainer, only to be denied by the Japanese star Ushba Tesoro. His gallant hope Algiers had to settle for second best on that unforgettable night in 2023, but it was not defeat so much as unfinished business.

On Super Saturday, that sense of purpose returned with emphatic force.

In one of the standout training performances of the Carnival, Simon and his son Ed Crisford dominated proceedings, striking three times across the evening's nine races. It was a night of bold decision-making and a father-son partnership clearly operating in perfect harmony.

The defining moment came in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Classic on dirt, where the aptly-named Meydaan, a five-year-old son of the superstar Frankel, produced a performance of rare authority to win the Group 2 Al Maktoum Classic sponsored by Emirates Airline.

Switched to dirt for the first time in a move that carried both risk and vision, Meydaan handled the surface as though born on it. In the assured hands of two-time British Champion Jockey William Buick, he travelled with quiet menace before unleashing a decisive turn of foot to surge five and a quarter lengths clear of Walk Of Stars, with Tap Leader back in third.

It was not merely a statement victory; it was a direct ticket to the Dubai World Cup, earned with the swagger of a horse peaking at the right moment.

Ed Crisford later admitted the decision had been a calculated gamble.

“He won here over a mile and six furlongs on turf, but he had been training well on this surface,” said Crisford.“So we thought 'Why don't we give this a go?' Every time he worked on it, he just got better, and we trialled him on it last week; he finished really well.

“We thought he would be outpaced early, but that if he could just have the front rank within his sights, he could finish well, and that's what he did. William was taking a pull on the back stretch, and I thought, 'Well, we've won this!

“Let's go to the World Cup!”

Earlier, the tone for the evening had been set by Quddwah in the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes over 1800 metres. Ridden by Ryan Moore, the six-year-old was beautifully poised before quickening decisively to beat Dividend by two and a half lengths, stamping himself as a serious contender for the $5 million Dubai Turf (G1) on World Cup night. It was a performance marked by tactical clarity, hallmarks of Crisford's approach.

The treble was sealed in the Listed Jumeirah 2000 Guineas when Title Role lowered the colours of the heavily touted Godolphin campaigner Talk Of New York. Held up early and produced with perfect timing by three-time British Champion Jockey Ryan Moore, the colt unleashed a decisive finishing kick to score by just over a length from Pacific Avenue.

The Crisfords' three wins on a night designed to identify genuine World Cup aspirants were the product of a training philosophy forged over decades.

Elsewhere on the card, Charlie Appleby's globetrotting star Rebel's Romance added another chapter to his remarkable career in the Dubai City of Gold with his 21st career victory, while Musabbeh Al Mheiri's El Nasseeb enhanced his sprinting credentials in the Mahab Al Shimaal.

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