After facing turmoil in 2021, in the wake of substance usage allegations on Medina Spirit, the Zedan Racing Stables finally garnered some good news. A three-year-old colt, owned by the Zedan stables, stood atop the podium as he won the $1-million FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic. The colt who has just started its equestrian racing career has shown a promising performance at the event.
Three-year-old Arabian Night was trained by the Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The colt was up against a known competitor from whom he lost in their last meet in July. However, this time, Arabian Night came prepared in order to trounce his competitors, as he showcased a staunch performance and settled the score.
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Arabian Night wins the prestigious equestrian race
Arabian Night was participating in the fourth race of his career and arrived in the event after claiming a third place in the Haskell Stakes, which his Grade 1 race competitor, Geaux Rocket Ride, had won.
This was a rematch of the rivalry and the three-year-old colt was ready to bag the triumph in the 1 1/4 miles race. According to paulickreport, Arabian Night was ridden by worth $146,499,382 jockey Flavien Prat.
Arabian Night started the race from post number 9 and took the lead from the beginning. Initially, he had a duel with Geaux Rocket Ride for a brief period, after which it settled at the third, and Don Alberto Stable-owned Piroli moved forward to put pressure on the leader.
Arabian Night maintained his pace and lead and crossed the quarter mile in 23.35 seconds, the half-mile in 46.60 seconds, and the three-quarter mile in 1:11.42. After the last turn, Piroli descended back, and many others came forward to challenge with Slow Down Andy as the prime.
Arabian Night has a lot of power left and Prat guided the colt to the stretch. Geaux Rocket Ride came from the outside and began to pressure on the first two position holders. He managed to overtake Slow Down Andy and had a brief duel with Arabian Night in the dying seconds of the race. But Arabian Night held its position and won the race with a head difference. Arabian Night completed the race in 2:03.19.
The jockey Flavien Prat was happy with his horse’s performance and said, “He’s a nice horse and he showed it today“. Prat explained that the colt ran easily and such races would make him even better. For the jockey it was an honor to win such a big race at Del Mar. The trainer is also happy with the win as after the victory, Baffert breaks the record by winning the Classic for the seventh time.
Equestrian trainer speaks highly of the colt
The Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is elated by the win of his trained three-year-old colt Arabian Night.
He said, “ I’m glad that he won the race and he’s proved he’s the horse we always thought he was“. During the race, his focus was on one horse Geaux Rocket Ride. But his horse dug in and won the race.
With this win, Arabian Night has qualified for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
However, before the equine’s participation, Baffert will observe the horse at the stable and then decide whether to put him in any race before that or not. Nevertheless, Arabian Night showed an epic performance at the FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic.
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Purva Jain