PAUL Hanagan rode Almoonqith to a fluent win for Sheikh Hamdan and Mike de Kock in the Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group Trophy over 1800m of the turf contested at Meydan on Saturday.

De Kock, fresh from a Dubai World Cup Carnival double on Thursday, has his team in top form.

Hanagan was happy to hide his mount away near the rear of the pack, before pulling him out wide in the straight and asking him to chase the leaders. The response was impressive and the pair accelerated past rivals, leading 200m out and running on strongly.

Hanagan explained: “We were delighted with him a fortnight ago when sixth on his local debut. We knew he needed that and had improved so were pretty hopeful.

“I wanted to avoid any trouble so was happy to pull wide as I knew he would quicken.”