HI DUBAI Waves Goodbye to Her Peers with Win at Canterbury

28 Aug 24

CIARON MAHER Racing had Team Dynamic back in the Winner’s Circle at Canterbury on Wednesday when our 5yo mare HI DUBAI (Highland Reel x Eureka Dubai) was asked to carry 59.5kgs but jet pilot James McDonald made it look like a postage stamp when our Dynamic Duo cruised around to claim victory in the Brazen Beau @ Darley Handicap 1100m Bm72.

HI DUBAI (59.5kgs)($3.30) defeated Lady Shenanigans (52.0kgs) ($51) by 0.28 length with Troika (55.5kgs) ($15) 2.12 lengths third in 1:04.39 Last 600m: 0:34.27.

Punters came out of trees to back the Hawkes trained runner Mawjood (55.5kgs) ($1.75) from $2.30 into odds-on favourite, but the bubble burst on the spruik upon that galloper when it didn’t give a yelp, finishing a well beaten sixth place 3.37 lengths away.

Harshly treated as a mare lumping 59.5kgs against the males, James McDonald gave HI DUBAI an easy run in transit, and allowed her to gain the upper hand halfway up the straight and just rolled to the finishing post with ease despite the big weight.

Pre-race we wanted to be positive and be as close to the lead as possible without being under pressure. As the gates crashed back, the field jumped away together, James asked HI DUBAI to extend forward, and our mare responded to his urging. However, unexpectedly, despised outsider Lady Shenanigans drawn underneath us in barrier 3 chose to use its massive 7.5kg (equal to 5 lengths) pull in the weights and was scrubbed along to hold us out off the fence.

James MacDonald is too smart for that tactic so dropped the tempo and allowed Lady Shenanigans to take control and HI DUBAI came across to sit at its girth with Troika from barrier 1 holding the fence one pair back in third spot. From this point at the 1000m the race was over bar the shouting.

The favourite went back to last spot 3 deep in the run spotting our runner 5 lengths and despite its alleged ability was never competitive from that point.

As the field sung into the first turn JMac just allowed our mare to sit patiently as the leader was under more urgent requests. Coming off the home turn to balance-up JMac had a lap full of horse underneath him and was just biding his time to push the go button.

Whilst waiting as long as possible the leader was running on fumes and starting to lay out under pressure. Passing the 200m it came out and bumped our mare so J Mac decided that was the time to extend and under hands and heels grove our mare to a half-length lead.

The runner-up was game under his light weight and the third horse plugged away down on the fence, but HI DUBAI was in no danger and not being asked to go any harder.

With 50m remaining JMac took all the pressure out of the effort and allowed HI DUBAI to roll to the post an easy winner with none of her peers making any impression.

JOB DONE.

It was yet another city winner for TEAM DYNAMIC supplied to us from the all-conquering CIARON MAHER Racing Stable.

The win took HI DUBAI career record to 10 starts: 3-2-2-1 and $203,350.

All wins and placings have been in the city.

A tidy return on a yearling purchased by Dynamic Syndications / Dean Watt Bloodstock for just $30,000 at the Inglis Classic Sale.

Each of her 3 wins has been at 1100m.

Beautifully placed her having won a Saturday company at Randwick on 27 July then followed by a close-up 4th in Saturday company last time out, dropping back to midweek grade she proved a different class level against this grade.

Brad Gray from Sky Central summarised the race “HI DUBAI was in for the fight and just had that terrific profile coming back from Saturday company to the midweeks and she was in for the fight to beat a very brave Lady Shenanigans, he was up in grade down in weight, and onto a drier deck, so there were a few things against him but that light weight obviously saw him run a big race, and at big odds, but if you waited and played a patient game with HI DUBAI you were certainly rewarded $3.50 on the local tote with all the support for Mawjood. On the winner, HI DUBAI she deserved that, she had been going particularly well and now she has won two of her past three."

Post-race the stable foreman Liam Ruddy was interviewed on Sky Channel by Chantelle Buckley who started by saying “she’s having a very good preparation isn’t she.”

Liam answered: “She’s done a very good job this time round. It’s a credit to Adam and the Team (Dynamic) to trust us with this horse. She’s put it all together this time around, and it’s nice to see.

Chantelle then asked: “What did the stable think of her run last time round, I know she placed over 1200m before, but she just looks like she didn’t see it out?”

Liam said: “Adam has been very forthright, the manager of Dynamic, he’s been very forward with that, we think she is just an 1100m horse, she came back to 1100m, it’s a niche distance, and she seems to be one of those horses, that doesn’t see out the 1200m 100% fully.”

Chantelle then inquired: “Is she a nice horse to be around?”

Liam confirmed: “She’s a beautiful horse to be around. Around the stable she is nice to deal with, and the Team down at Bong Bong, she loves being down there, and really settled in down there. Thank You.”

Next, James McDonald was quickly asked by Brad Gray: “He’s with a couple of happy connections here and James was saying it was pretty easy in the end, but you had to get those biceps pumping late.”

James responded: “Yeah for sure. She’s done a marvellous job this preparation so she is obviously fit, still up racing and in career best form so she probably would have loved a little bit more give in the ground, but she did do a really good job today.”

CONGRATULATIONS to our Terrific Team of Dynamic Owners who own and race HI DUBAI: Dynamic Syndications Racing, Mr R J Gall, Ms T L McManus, Mr A C Clarke, Mr D P Lacey, Mr P J Wimpey, Mrs C J Laing, Mr L T Duignan, Mr J J Cleveley, Mr M N O'Connor, Mr D Uren, Mr T Ticina, Gallop Schnell, Mr A Stewart, Mr M F O'Reilly, Why Racing, Mr S J Brereton, Mrs H L Hohn, Mrs N M Leyton

It was our 10th Metropolitan Winner in the past 15 weeks for our Dynamic Syndications Owners and our 12th Metropolitan Winner for the Calendar Year.

Also, it was the 10th Metropolitan Winner trained for us by CIARON MAHER Racing Team in the 2024 Calendar Year.

HI DUBAI was our 4th Race Win for the New Racing Season and our 894th Race Win Overall.

Onwards and Upwards – Forever Forward!