by Myra Lewyn

James Atkinson’s and Peter Walichnowski’s Linngari powered home in the long Nad al Sheba stretch on Thursday to capture the $250,000 Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Al Fahidi Fort (UAE-G2) for the second straight year.

In the process, he dominated some highly regarded turf milers as jockey Kevin Shea guided him to a 3 1/4-length victory under a hand ride.

Linngari raced just off the pace set by Celtic Silence, who shot to the immediate lead and opened an eight-length advantage with 600 meters left to run in the 1,600-meter (7.95-furlong) race.

Shea waited a bit in the straight before rallying the five-old-year Indian Ridge horse, who displayed an overwhelming burst of speed as he overhauled the front-runners and easily drew off, completing the trip in 1:38.45.

Seihali, third in last year’s Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1), finished second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of South African group winner Kapil.

English Group 2 winner Killybegs finished fourth, and English Group 1 winner Court Masterpiece, making his first start for new trainer Ismail Mohammed, finished eighth in the nine-horse field.

South African-based trainer Herman Brown was elated with Linngari, who was starting for the first time this year after capping last season with a fifth-place finish behind The Duke in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile (HK-G1) at Sha Tin.

“Such a dominating performance, it almost didn’t look real,” Brown said of Linngari’s victory.

Brown added that Linngari would be aimed for the $5-million Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) on the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) undercard on March 31, contingent on an invitation to run.

“Hopefully, he will now get an invite for the Dubai Duty Free. Ideally, we wouldn’t want to run him again before,” Brown said.

Linngari, who is out of the Kahyasi mare Lidakiya (Ire), won three of eight starts last season, including the Bestwetten.de Goldene Peitsche (Ger-G2) and the Dubal Al Rashidiya (UAE-G3). He also finished second to Caradak in the Prix de la Foret Casino Barriere de Biarritz (Fr-G1) at Longchamp. With Thursday’s triumph, his record improves to eight wins in 16 career starts.

To watch a video of the race, click here.

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor