Go Soldier Go ran out the brilliant winner of Listed Al Bastakiya Stakes at Meydan on Saturday.
The Tapiture colt was a $45,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by us with an eye on reselling at the inaugural Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale with John Cullinan and Roger Marley of Church Farm and Horse Park Stud and turned a nice profit by reselling for the equivalent of €125,000. He is the first stakes winner to come out of the Goffs Dubai Sale.
After running several creditable placed efforts for owners Victorious and trainer Fawzi Nass, Go Soldier Go broke his maiden in emphatic style at Meydan last month. Saturday’s impressive success, in which he swooped from the back of the field to run down Mr Raj, sets him up perfectly for the UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup day.
I was impressed – he’s a good soldier! He still seemed very babyish going into the race and obviously the penny dropped in the later stages of the race. He’ll only come froward from that run tonight. There’s still improvement to come I think.
Trainer Fawzi Nass
Jockey Adrie de Vries was also impressed.
“He travelled ok but got stuck behind a wall of horses,” he said. “The front horses were getting further and further away from me and once I got in the clear, I had to rush him him a bit. But he has a beautiful stride and plenty of stamina.”
