Soft Falling Rain dominates in UAE 2,000 Guineas

Heavily favored Soft Falling Rain brought his unbeaten record to a perfect 6-for-6 when dominated seven rivals in the $250,000 UAE 2,000 Guineas Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors (UAE-III) at Meydan Racecourse.

Ridden to victory by Paul Hanagan, the South African-bred son of National Assembly got off to a good start at the beginning of the 1,600-meter (about one-mile) race, and soon settled into the second position behind pace-setting Deauville Prince. Pure Excellence, Filfil, and Zahee were all less than 2 1/2 lengths from the front following the opening four hundred meters, while Snowboarder, Fortify, and Glass Office were the trailers.

The positions remained relatively unchanged down the backstretch and around the far turn, the main exception being that Pure Excellence steadily retreated to last place during that time frame. But entering the homestretch, Hanagan asked Soft Falling Rain to run, and the favorite responded with a burst of speed that carried him to a commanding 2 1/4-length victory in the good time of 1:36.70 seconds.

Snowboarder rallied fast in the final hundred meters to edge Zahee for second, while Deauville Prince held on for fourth. Fortify failed to present a serious challenge and finished sixth.

The winner is trained by Mike de Kock and owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, and carried 131 pounds -- ten more than the majority of his rivals. Having been bred in the Southern Hemisphere, Soft Falling Rain is four-years-old by Northern Hemisphere standards, his birth date being September 16th, 2009.

-Keelerman

Fortify to make seasonal debut in UAE 2,000 Guineas

Fortify, who finished second in last year's Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) to Eclipse champion Shanghai Bobby, is scheduled to make his three-year-old debut on Thursday in the $250,000 UAE 2,000 Guineas Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors (UAE-III) at Meydan Racecourse.

Owned by Godolphin Racing, Fortify has drawn post position four in the 1,600-meter (about one-mile) race. A son of Distorted Humor out of the A.P. Indy mare Kotuku, Fortify showed a great deal of talent as a two-year-old, compiling a record of 1-1-1 from 4 starts and earnings of $268,000. Following a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), Fortify was transferred from trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to Mahmoud Al Zarooni, who has been preparing the colt for this race.

Seven other three-year-old colts are entered in the race, including the unbeaten Soft Falling Rain, who won all five of his starts as a juvenile. Trained by Mike de Kock, the son of National Assembly

Other prominent contenders include Deauville Prince, who ran fourth in the group I Gran Criterium at Milan last October, and Glass Officer, winner of the Betfred the Bonus King Sirenia Stakes (Eng-III) in September.

Post Positions:
1 Filfil
2 Deauville Prince
3 Snowboarder
4 Fortify
5 Zahee
6 Pure Excellence
7 Glass Office
8 Soft Falling Rain

-Keelerman