Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Cityscape took over turning for home and burst clear of the field in the stretch en route to a record-setting victory in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free (UAE-I) March 31 at Meydan Racecourse.
Cityscape entered the race a three-time group stakes winner in his career, but finished an unlucky second by a nose in both the Gran Premio Vittorio di Capua (Ity-I) and the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (HK-I) last year. This was his season debut.
Under Doyle, Cityscape received the perfect stalking trip, as he raced just behind pacesetter Await the Dawn down the backstretch before taking over on the turn. Once he straightened away, Cityscape quickly separated himself from the rest of the field and drew away. With 300 meters remaining he had an insurmountable lead, and even though Irish-bred Mutahadee closed well under Christophe Soumillon, there was never any doubt about the winner.
"The horse has been really consistent and has been training really well," Charlton told Racing Post. "He had a good preparation at home and he's come out here and not lost any weight. I thought it was the most competitive race on the card and I didn't think he'd break the track record and win by four and a quarter lengths.
"Juddmonte Farms have a lot of good horses and although he could go for the Lockinge, they have Frankel for that race. There's the possibility of Hong Kong, Singapore, or he could stay at home."
Cityscape improved to 6-7-1 from 17 starts and upped his earnings to $4,002,997.
The winner paid $24.60 and $6.60 in U.S. betting pools.
