by K. T. Donovan

So many horses were given a strong chance in the $5-million Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) on Saturday, but the speculation that Japan’s Admire Moon could win if the pace was fast enough early came to fruition as he held off fast-closing Linngari while multiple Grade 1 winner Lava Man faded to last.

“He’s such a great horse, he goes out every time and is hard on himself,” jockey Corey Nakatani said of Lava Man. “He never just not runs, he has a big heart. But after four furlongs, he had enough and stopped.”

Lava Man and Iridescence sped to the front, with English Channel racing in midpack.

Moving three-wide with a half-mile to go, English Channel was being ridden hard by John Velazquez, while Iridiscence led the field into the straight.

Admire Moon, who loved the fast pace up front, burst through and grabbed a convincing lead with one furlong to run. From the outside, Linngari made a valiant effort to run him down, closing with each stride, but Admire Moon prevailed to win by a half-length, with the other half of the Japanese entry, Daiwa Major, finishing third another 4 1/4 lengths back in the 16-horse field. Lava Man tracked the pace until three furlongs out, then weakened.

Admire Moon, who was ridden by Yutaka Take, finished the 1,777 meters (8.97 furlongs) in 1:47.94.

“It was my dream to win in Dubai,” said owner Riichi Kondo through an interpreter. “For four months I have planned to have him come here, but I had no idea how happy I would be.”

Champion turf male Miesque’s Approval never fired under Eddie Castro and finished 15th, and English Channel faded to 12th.

“He didn’t run at all,” Velazquez said of English Channel, who won an allowance race on February 22 at Gulfstream Park in his seasonal debut. “He never gave me any indication he was going to run.”

Trained by Hiroyoshi Matsuda, Admire Moon was coming off a neck victory over 2006 Melbourne Cup (Au-G1) runner-up Pop Rock in the Kyoto Kinen (Jpn-G2) on February 17 at Kyoto, his first start this year. He won three of seven starts last season, which was capped by a second-place finish to Pride in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup (HK-G1) at Sha Tin.

With Saturday’s win, his record improve to eight wins in 13 lifetime starts.

Bred by Northern Farm, Admire Moon is out of the Sunday Silence mare My Katies.

K. T. Donovan is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer