Secret Ambition gave UAE champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea an early Christmas gift by landing the Listed Dubai Creek Mile in a star-studded field at Meydan on Thursday.
The Satish Seemar-trained six-year-old son of Exceed And Excel beat Kimbear and Rodaini by a length and a short head.
With stable jockey Richard Mullen opting to ride Yulong Warrior - one of the two Seemar runners in the race - O’Shea was booked for Secret Ambition.
“Richie had an impossible choice between Yulong Warrior and Secret Ambition,” O’Shea said.
“Both horses had been working really hard at home. Whichever one he decided to ride, I was in the fortunate position of picking up a very nice ride.
“He jumped well, travelled well and he had a good sit in the race. One thing this horse does is he is tough, he is genuine and he loves a fight – and he carried a penalty today for a Group Three win.
“He is uncomplicated. He does enough and he gets there. I'm delighted to pick up a spare ride and it's great for the Zabeel Stables.”
Heavy Metal, the Group Two Godolphin Mile runner-up and the winner of that race in 2018 set a familiar early pace under Royston Ffrench with Mullen close behind on Yulong Warrior.
However, they both faded as they approached the final bend and O’Shea got the first run on Secret Ambition on the home stretch and they held off Pat Dobbs’ challenge on Kimbear.
Seemar will now have another crack at the Dubai World Cup Carnival with Secret Ambition.
“Secret Ambition is a very strong-minded horse,” he said. “He's not an easy horse to train at home because of his character.
“When he has his day, that's his day. Today he broke the mould because the track was all speed, so it's nice to see him come back and it sets him up for the Carnival perfectly.”
Kimbear’s rider Dobbs added: “He didn't travel like I would have liked early. He was just probably a little rusty and carrying a little weight. When we turned in, he just flattened and just got a bit tired.”
Ali Rashid Al Raihe and his stable jockey Fernando Jara took the opener with Aatebat Al Khalediah in the Group Three Madjani Stakes for the Purebred Arabians and Dubai Avenue completed the double by taking the third.
Doug Watson and Dobbs were another trainer-jockey partnership to strike a double on the night.
They took the fourth race with My Catch and the concluding handicap with Golden Goal.
