by Myra Lewyn

Asiatic Boy, winner of the 2007 United Arab Emirates Triple Crown, showed his versatility at a shorter distance on Thursday when he powered though a gap in the final 200 meters of the $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint (UAE-G3) for a sharp victory at Nad al Sheba racecourse.

Shiekh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Matoum’s candidate for the $6-million Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) on March 29, Asiatic Boy was returning from a five-month layoff.

Outrun early after an awkward start, the five-year-old Not for Sale horse handled plenty of dirt in his face before easily accelerating as jockey Johnny Murtagh guided him through a gap in the final 200 meters. He finished strongly to win the 1,200-meter (5.96-furlong) race by 1 ¼ lengths.

Asiatic Boy defeated accomplished sprinter Salaam Dubai, third-place finisher in the 2007 Gulf News Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1), as he covered the distance in 1:11.27.

Trainer Mike de Kock was pleased with Asiatic Boy’s effort.

“He’s shown what a class colt he is,” de Kock said. “He had everything go against him, but he was good enough to cope with it.

“The Dubai World Cup is very much the plan, but we might just look at the Mahab Shimaal with him over the same distance on Super Thursday [February 21 at Nad al Sheba] for him next.”

Malayeen, who was seeking his third straight sprint victory, finished third, another 3 ½ lengths back in the ten-horse field. Godolphin’s Diabolical, starting for the first time since capturing two graded stakes in the United Stakes last summer, finished fourth in his Dubai debut.

Asiatic Boy, who is out of the Polish Navy mare S. S. Asiatic, entered off a pair of unplaced finishes in England after his scintillating victory in last year’s S & M al Naboodah Group U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) on March 31 to clinch the UAE Triple Crown. His start prior to the Al Shindagha Sprint was a fifth-place finish in the Juddmonte International Stakes (Eng-G1) on August 21 at York.

Bred in Argentina by Haras Arroyo de Luna SA, Asiatic Boy has won six of ten starts with two second-place finishes and has earned $1,648,090.

For a video replay of the race, click here.

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times daily news editor