Betting The Horses

In the UAE Derby Grad II on March 27 at the Nad El Sheba track Musir unleashed a powerful finish to accomplish a one-two finish for trainer Mike de Kock.  Jockey Christophe Soumillon angled the three year old colt inside.  The jockey did a fantastic job by getting the horse to accelerate explosively in the final 200 meters of the race.

With trainer Bin Suroor Saeed’s horse Mendip coming up in third place, Raihana, which is also trained by Mike de Kock came in second place. Both horses that came from breeder Sheikh Mohammed came in the first place and second place. Mike de Kock said, “I said before that this was a very good horse, and I hope he’ll go very well in Australia”.

With only about 400 meters remaining in the race, Mendip surged ahead to take the command. In the final 100 meters of the race there were ultimately no match for Musir and Mendip was soon joined by Raihana and the two battled toward the finish line.

While Raihana was 1 ¼ lengths clear of Mendip, Musir covered the entire distance in 1:57.44. To earn him a starting position in the Kentucky Derby on May 1^st, Mendip has a $200,000 group stakes earnings which could be enough.

At the end of the race Mendip’s jockey Frankie Dettori said “We had a mix up around the turn when that horse [Timely Jazz] broke down so we had to take evasive action.  He ran an honest race and I’m pleased with him.  Mendip was beaten by two nice horses.”

Tags: Bin Suroor Saeed, Christophe Soumillon, Mike de Kock, Musir, Nad El Sheba track, UAE Derby Grad II