Master and former pupil enjoy significant Classic success

Godolphin recorded a Classic double on both sides of the Atlantic over the weekend, with Dubai playing an important role in the victories of Mawj and Pretty Mischievous.

Mawj came out on top in a thrilling battle with Tahiyra in Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, handing Godolphin’s longest-serving trainer Saeed bin Suroor his 13th Classic in the UK.

Like the trainer’s previous two winners of the Newmarket showpiece, Cape Verdi and Kazzia, Mawj spent her winter in Dubai, with the half-sister to Modern Games winning the two new turf races for three-year-old fillies at the Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Pretty Mischievous posted a first royal blue success in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday as she saw off Gambling Girl in a tremendous finish. The Into Mischief homebred was also a first Classic win for Brendan Walsh, who spent nine years working in Dubai for Godolphin at Al Quoz Stables before taking out his training licence.

A superb weekend at Churchill Downs saw two established stars post G1 victories on Saturday. Future Darley stallion Cody’s Wish gained a third straight top-level win as he swooped from the rear in the Churchill Downs Stakes, with his namesake Cody Dorman present to watch his impressive seasonal return.

Matareya lowered the colours of crack sprinters Wicked Halo and Goodnight Olive in the Derby City Distaff, adding to her victory in last season’s Acorn Stakes. The four-year-old’s ultimate aim this season looks set to be the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint – a race that she was forced to miss last season.

Ottoman Fleet added to the success in North America as he captured the G2 Fort Marcy Stakes at Belmont Park. His travelling companion Warren Point will be aiming for a win of his own at the New York track this weekend in the G1 Man o’ War Stakes.

Hurricane Lane bounced back from a disappointing seasonal return with an emphatic victory in the Newmarket’s G2 Jockey Club Stakes on Friday. Fellow multiple G1 winner Adayar made a winning start to his campaign at the same meeting as he warmed up for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes by taking Sunday’s G3 Gordon Richards Stakes.

In France, Tribalist maintained his unbeaten start to the season with another impressive performance at Saint-Cloud in Monday’s Prix du Muguet. Having recorded G3 and G2 wins so far this season, the Farhh colt looks set for a crack at a G1 in the Lockinge Stakes later this month.