Silencing his stamina doubters, Fawzi Nass-trained Salute the Soldier won his second Group stakes in the UAE under a patient and potent Adrie de Vries piloting.

Stalking G1-winning favourite Capezzano thoughout the first seven furlongs in second, the son of Sepoy hit the front at the top of the stretch and then held off Doug Watson-trained Thegreatcollection. Uruguayan G1 winner Ajuste Fiscal closed well to be third, just ahead of Capezzano. Well-fancied Dubai Warrior was a disappointment for trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori, finishing eighth of nine, 40 lengths astern the winner.

De Vries: "This opens new doors for us. It was a good try and a brave try by Fawzi. Things didn't go right this season. The first time he ran, he ran too fresh (in December's Listed Dubai Creek Mile) and was doing too much. Last time (in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R2 on Jan. 21), maybe he ran a bit flat, but it made us make this decision to go a little bit farther with him, which was the right thing, going after this win. Hopefully we can get in on the big night (Dubai World Cup, March 27).

"(Fawzi) likes to keep that bit of freshness in them. These are tough races, so we'll have to see how he comes out of this one. He's a horse who quickly gets fresh again and takes his races well, but today was a hard race. We'll see how he gets out of this and make a plan.

"It was just a question of the race going a good pace and I was afraid of what was going to happen when Mickael (Barzalona, Capezzano) took the pace out of the race on the backside. (Salute The Soldier ), when he gets to the girth of a horse, he gets a bit gassy. I needed to put some pressure on Mickael (because) he was slowing it down a little bit too much to my liking, but I could fill him up again on the turn and he kept going. Great result." 

Watson: "He always breaks so sharp and we didn't want to be up there, so Pat (Cosgrave) took him back a little, but he's such a quirky horse that he took himself back too much. I thought we were struggling to keep up back there and he was so far back that he was getting that high sand (kickback), but he ran huge. His sire (Saint Anddan) was a sprinter, but he was by (stamina influence) A. P. Indy--plus his dam won over 1800m, so I was never worried about him staying and tonight he stayed as good as any of them.

"He'll go on to (the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge) Round 3 (on March 6). We'll have a nice lineup for Super Saturday."

Zakouski Turns Tables On Lord Glitters In G2 Al Rashidiya

$163,000 Al Rashidiya (G2)
Race 5 (20:50)
1800m (turf)
Winner: ZAKOUSKI
Owner: Godolphin
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
Breeder: Godolphin (GB)
Sire: Shamardal
2nd: COURT HOUSE (Mickael Barzalona)
3rd: LORD GLITTERS (Daniel Tudhope)
Time: 1:48.39
Margins: 3/4, Nose, 6

In Brief: It was the same course and distance, but the setup of tonight's G2 Al Rashidiya was much different from the G2 Singspiel of three weeks ago. This time, instead of Lord Glitters storming home off a pace meltdown, the tempo was deliberate and Godolphin's Zakouski  stalked with style under William Buick and won well by three-quarters of a length for trainer Charlie Appleby. Court House, running an inspired race from the front end for Mickael Barzalona, was a nose to the good of a closing Lord Glitters in third. It was another six lengths back to Bless Him in fourth, followed by Cap Francais, Kinross and a disappointing Dream Castle in last. 

Buick: "To be honest, we had a nice draw in (post) one and it just enabled us to not have to do any work for most of the race. We got a nice lead off Court House and he took us far enough. I got the gap and Zakouski really dug deep. It was a lovely performance for Zakouski and the race worked out exactly how we'd hoped it would. 

"The Dubai Turf (G1, March 27) is going to be a different test altogether. It's one of the best races in the world on ratings, so there's going to be a lot of fancy runners from abroad, the UK, UAE and everywhere. He might run in the Jebel Hatta (G1, March 6) first and see how he gets on there. I see no reason why he can't progress again. It was a second run off the campaign over here and obviously he came on from his first run. He'll have a little break and we'll bring him on for Super Saturday."

Secret Protector Pounds Meydan Trophy Foes

$50,000 Meydan Trophy (3yo)
Race 3 (19:25)
1900m (turf)
Winner: SECRET PROTECTOR
Owner: Godolphin
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
Breeder: R. S. Evans (USA)
Sire: War Front
2nd: AREEN (Mickael Barzalona)
3rd: FINAL THOUGHT (Pat Cosgrave)
Time: 1:56.16 (Equals Track Record)
Margins: 5 1/2, 3/4, 1 1/2

In Brief: The most dominant performance of the evening came from Godolphin's Secret Protector , who smashed his foes under William Buick with ease in the 1900m Meydan Trophy, easily scooting clear in the final 300m to the tune of a 5 1/2-length success and an equaling of the course record. A Charlie Appleby-conditioned son of War Front out of the Galileo mare Eternal Bounty, he was sold for $800,000 at Keeneland September 2019. 

Buick: "That's his third run tonight, so he's obviously he's very lightly raced. He's done nothing wrong in his three runs. Tonight was perfect, ideal and exactly what we came here for and he put up a really nice performance. A performance that is going to improve for us. I don't know what the immediately plan is for him, but I have a suspicion he might head back to the UK and have an early season target. He's always been a very amenable horse to deal with and he's very honest, very game. He's just ticks a lot of boxes and is very exciting." 

RB Money To Burn Fires Back In G2 Mazrat Al Ruwayah

$36,000 Mazrat Al Ruwayah (G2-PA)
Race 1 (18:30)
1600m (dirt)
Winner: RB MONEY TO BURN
Owner: Sheikha Alyazia bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Trainer: Eric Lemartinel
Jockey: Tadhg O'Shea
Breeder: Dianne Waldron (USA)
Sire: Majd Al Arab
2nd: SPAGHETTI Harry Bentley)
3rd: RB TORCH (Fabrice Veron)
Time: 1:46.56
Margins: 2, 2 3/4, Neck

In Brief: Rb Money To Burn  proved her naysayers wrong when the usually front-running mare took up and rated in the one-mile G2 Mazrat Al Ruwayah. Stalking with aplomb, the Eric Lemartinel trainee won for fun in the end, trotting under the wire a facile two-length winner. The win was her sixth from 11 tries and improved upon a pair of disappointing losses in her past two starts. 

Lemartinel: "Today she showed what she can do, like she showed in the Maktoum Challenge last year. I talked to Tadhg and we agreed together on not pushing her to go in front and let her travel good and let her race and see how she's going. Last time, I don't know--she never stopped changing her legs and wasn't 100%. The objective is the (Group 1) Kahayla Classic (on Dubai World Cup night, March 27)." 

Star Safari Lands Emirates Skycargo Handicap

$68,000 Emirates Skycargo Handicap (90-108)
Race 2 (19:05)
2410m (turf)
Winner: STAR SAFARI
Owner: Godolphin 
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
Breeder: Gestüt Brümmerhof (GB)
Sire: Sea The Stars
2nd: AWAY HE GOES (Antonio Fresu)
3rd: BRILLIANT LIGHT (Pat Cosgrave)
Time: 2:29.46
Margins: 3/4, Head, Short Head

In Brief: Rewarding his faithful, market favourite Star Safari  did not disappoint in the 12-furlong turf handicap, kicking strongly in the middle of the track after tipping out at the 350m and holding off fellow closer and market second choice Away He Goes. Brilliant Light, market third choice, made for a formful top-three across the wire. 

Appleby: "I'm delight and was pleased with his first run last time and it was his first start since the Carnival 2020, so we were more hopeful than confident about stepping him up to a mile and a half. If he did see that trip out, it would hopefully open more doors for him. William got into a nice rhythm around there and said he had to come out on the turn to give himself a little room, but said once he got daylight, he galloped through the line strongly."

Motafaawit Upsets Emirates Skywards Handicap

$65,000 Emirates Skywards Handicap (90-100)
Race 6 (21:25)
1000m (turf)
Winner: MOTAFAAWIT 
Owner: HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Trainer: Doug Watson
Jockey: Sam Hitchcott
Breeder: Shadwell Estate Co Ltd (IRE)
Sire: Intikhab 
2nd: MUTARAFFA (Dane O'Neill)
3rd: CASPIAN PRINCE (Daniel Tudhope)
Time: 57.20
Margins: 2 1/2, 3, 1

In Brief: After a card filled with the expected, it was time for an upset in the nighcap and Motafaawit  gladly obliged, leading home a 1-2 for HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. At odds of 33/1, the son of Intikhab gave Doug Watson a much-needed antidote after Thegreatcollection's runner-up run in the featured Maktoum Challenge, cutting back in trip nicely to the straight five-furlong dash. Mutaraffa was 2 1/2 lengths back in second, followed by 12-year-old wonder Caspian Prince three more lengths back in third. Favourite Story of Light was fifth. 

Watson: "He ran up the hill (at Jebel Ali) last year and ran ok and was really working great recently.This year he has been the work partner for Pakistan Star, who is a great work horse, because nothing else could get him off the bridle. It was just a matter of finding a race that would suit him and he really ran great and opened up on them at the end.

"He doesn't like turning in the race, but will do it in the morning. Now we have three weeks back and try to go to the (Group 3) Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint on Super Saturday. He was once a horse rated about 103 or 104, so hopefully we can get him back to that and another furlong (in the 1200m Turf Sprint) won't hold him back."