Sky Hunter Strikes Gold

Sky Hunter made a winning reappearance with a smooth success in the Group Two Dubai City Of Gold Sponsored By Emirates SkyCargo over 12 furlongs at Meydan, UAE, on Super Saturday, March 7.

The five-year-old, successful in a Newbury Group Three over the same distance on his most recent start in October, broke smartly for James Doyle and raced prominently before settling in fourth of the 10-strong field after the first quarter-mile.

He started to take closer order with half a mile to race and stayed on strongly to take the lead entering the home straight.

Saeed bin Suroor's charge opened up a clear advantage approaching the final furlong and galloped all the way to the line to beat Sheikhzayedroad by a length and three-quarters in 2m 32.88s on good turf.

Umgiyo was a further three-quarters of a length back in third with Saeed bin Suroor's other runner True Story, the mount of William Buick, a nose behind in fourth.

Saeed bin Suroor commented: "I was very happy with the performance of Sky Hunter tonight and he beat some nice horses.

"We will aim him at the Dubai Sheema Classic now on World Cup Night and see how he gets on in a Group One race."

James Doyle said: "Sky Hunter progressed nicely in France and then won his Group Three at Newbury on very soft ground, so it was a bit of a worry with the ground being on the quick side here.

"He let himself down on the ground OK and the race went quite smoothly. He dealt with them quite well.

"Obviously, the Dubai Sheema Classic could be the race for him now. It would be nice if we had a downpour beforehand, which would help him, but we will see."

Sky Hunter is Godolphin's 10th winner of the Dubai City Of Gold after Happy Valentine (1998), Sibling Rival (1999), High-Rise (2000), Give The Slip (2001), Narrative (2002), Highest (2003), Campanologist (2010), Monterosso (2011) and Excellent Result (2014).