Al Quoz's highly successful start to their 2000 campaign continued at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night when the stable saddled first and second home in the first running of the Dhs200,000 Al Rashidiya.
The 2,000m event on the turf course is new to the Emirates racing calendar and attracted champion Irish jockey Mick Kinane, who was stopping in Dubai on his way to Saudi Arabian and then Hong Kong.
Kinane rode Timahs for trainer Saeed bin Suroor however the horse had to be content with second behind Sabadilla, who had obviously benefited from his effort the previous week when second to stablemate Pozarica.
Al Quoz's results, even this early in 2000, show that they are set for a big year and the one-two result in the Al Rashidiya mirrored their performance of the previous week when they supplied first and second in the opening round of the Maktoum Challenge with Siege and Goombayland.
Sabadilla obviously relishes the turf surface at Nad Al Sheba, his two runs on the surface last season saw him finish a narrow second behind Makaruka in the Dubai City Of Gold and fourth to Fruits of Love in the Dubai Turf Classic, both over 2,400m, before his victory here.
His second last week behind Pozarica was on the dirt. Carroll had the option of the two and chose Sabadilla due to the horse having had the previous run this season, and Timahs will obviously benefit from this.
It was Carroll's second winner for the evening having won on the sprinter Kabalevsky for owner Saeed Suhail, owner of last year's Derby favourite Beat All. Kabalevsky also brought up the first UAE winner for trainer Aditiyan Selvaratnam, brother of former champion trainer Dhruba Selvaratnam.
Ted Durcan continued his good season and maintained his lead at the top of the jockey's championship with his win in the opening race aboard Manchuria, a graduate of the Dubai Horses in Training Sale prior to this season.
Durcan's win took his seasonal tally to 29 and he is still 10 clear of closet rival Richard Hills, who also got amongst the winners when riding Aljjawarih to win the 00-80 handicap for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum and trainer Erwan Charpy, the horse being the first leg of a winning double for Charpy who also won with the Purebred Arabian Hafid du Bac, last season's champion juvenile returning to form with his win.
