MUBTAAHIJ (IRE), ridden by Dane O’Neill, ended the Godolphin ace Sir Fever’s exceptional 10-run winning streak in Saturday’s Al Bastakiya over 1900m on dirt at Meydan, beating him by 2.50-lengths.

This was a fifth win in the Listed contest for Mike de Kock.  He landed the race in 2007 with Asiatic Boy, who remains the only UAE Triple Crown winner – aside from the Al Bastakiya also winning the UAE 2000 Guineas and the UAE Derby.

Mubtaahij strides clear in the Al Bastakiya. (Andrew Watkins).

Mike commented: “Mubtaahij won a super race, this was a very good performance beating the 117-rated Sir Fever. Our third horse Ajwad was 10 lengths off the winner, underlining the ability of the first two. Sir Fever is one to watch because he is likely to improve several lengths for this run. We’ll have a healthy respect for him, but Mubtaahij also has improvement to come. The UAE Derby is going to be some race!”

O’Neill said: “I have been lucky to pick up the spare ride on him three times for three wins. He ran a good race in the UAE 2000 Guineas last time and we knew this extra distance would suit him. Hopefully he has a massive chance in the UAE Derby.”

Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Mubtaahij is a three-year-old colt by Dubawi from Pennegale, by Pennekamp.