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It was an old-fashioned battle of the best on Thursday evening at Meydan Racecourse when favourite Rebel's Romance and second choice Mouheeb threw down in the final furlong of the featured UAE 2000 Guineas Trial, only to be separated by a nose at the wire.

Two extremely highly regarded types, the former proved victorious and onlookers left excited for what could be a thrilling classics season in the region. 

Both out of the barriers in less-than-ideal order, Godolphin's Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel's Romance  quickly found his footing and sat comfortably in midpack under William Buick, who resonated confidence throughout. Meanwhile, Ryan Curatolo, carrying the famous gold and black of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was stuck slightly farther back after breaking last of all, forced to make his own luck between horses and attempting to track his rival. 

Buick found a three-wide spot in sixth, drafting off previously undefeated Zhou Storm, running third. As that runner's longshot stablemate Chosen Mark and well-bred maiden Talo--a half to UAE Oaks (G3) winners Down on Da Bayou and Polar River--carved out the early fractions for the first five furlongs, it quickly became apparent around the far turn that the undefeated trio of Zhou Storm, Rebel's Romance and Mouheeb were hitting a far superior stride. Turning for home, said triad seized control in that order, with Zhou Storm tracked by Rebel's Romance and Mouheeb still trying to find a proper path through horses, but gaining well. 

Three quickly became two when Rebel's Romance kicked on and Nicholas Bachalard-trained Mouheeb--a full-brother to G2 winner Favorable Outcome--ducked to his inside to challenge, setting the stage for a proper horse race in the second half of the stretch. The winner held on gamely, while Mouheeb shortened the advantage with every stride. It was another seven lengths back to Ahmad bin Harmash-trained first-time starter Sharp Spun, who surprised many with a bold closing run under Fernando Jara, nipping Ali Rashid Al Rayhi trainees Zhou Storm and Grand Dubai.

The final time was 1:37.55 for the mile, with Chosen Mark, Talo, Rich Waters, Line of Attack and Areen completing the order of finish. Most impressive were the final 400m sectionals of the first two finishers, with Rebel's Romance coming home in 24.86 seconds and Mouheeb doing so in 24.76. 

By UAE's top sire of winners in 2020, Dubawi, out of a daughter of Dubai World Cup winner Street Cry, Rebel's Romance was two-for-two coming into the Trial, having handily defeated a pair of all-weather fields in England and earning the highest all-weather Timeform rating (110p) of any 2-year-old in the UK last year. He is dam Minidress's third winner from as many foals to race. 

"As we know, the experience around here on the dirt is lengths and pounds, shall we say, and for (Rebel's Romance) our gate speed was always our concern and how much ground we would have to make up," Appleby said. "William put him into a nice pitch and he was travelling well. Once he angled him out, I was as confident as you could be around here. I knew he would gallop well to the line and he did that. And to be fair to William, he looked after him well and gave him a nice education. The last 100 yards looked a bit tight for all of us there on TV, but if you watch the replay, William was just hands and heels and keeping him up to his work.

"He's a big, scopy horse and a gelded son of Dubawi and was a bit of a boy in the early part of his career," Appleby continued. "Therefore he was a bit later coming to hand. He had that run at Newcastle, where he won nicely and was learning plenty on the job and then he won at Kempton with a penalty. Once he did that, he put himself on the flight deck to come here as a contender for the UAE (2000) Guineas.

"He's a 4-year-old (to look forward to), really, so anything he does do through his 3-year-old career is going to be a bonus and he's a horse if we mind him the right way, we'll have some fun with him for years to come."

Bachalard was pleased with his charge, who was making just his second run and first around a bend after a dominant victory over a straight six furlongs at his home base of Jebel Ali Racecourse. 

"He was gallant in defeat," Bachalard said. "I thought he ran very well. He broke slow, finished in good fashion and learned a lot today. He got kickback and closed well, so at least we know he handles the surface and stays. (There are) some positive points to take from the race." 

The two could meet again in either the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas on Feb. 4 and/or the $1.5 million Saudi Derby on Feb. 20. 

The evening's festivities kicked off with a dominant front-running performance by Salem bin Ghadayer-owned and -trained Meshakel  in the seven-furlong sophomore maiden. 

Breaking alertly and defying a six-day turnaround, the son of Shamardal made all under Royston Ffrench and did so quickly, stopping the clock in 1:23.87--less than a second off the course record. He was seven lengths to the good of stablemate and market favourite Rare Ninja, who held off well-regarded first-time starter Emblem War in third by thee-quarters of a length. 

A $640,654 purchase at Tattersalls, Meshakel began his career with Mark Johnston in the UK, finishing third twice from three runs. Progressing quickly and obviously enjoying dirt racing since arriving in Dubai, it would be no surprise to see him return to take on winners in the UAE 2000 Guineas (G3) in three weeks' time. 

"Coming from Middleham with Mark Johnston, they are very tough and he showed that only a week ago, running a decent race in defeat," Ffrench said. "Backing up quickly, he did this really well. How good he'll be, I don't really know, but he's a smart individual." 

Older horses raced over the same seven-furlong trip in the evening's second race for handicappers rated 70-85. Winning for the second time this season, Gervais  ground out a determined victory under Connor Beasley for trainer Ali Rashid Al Rayhi.

After breaking well from the rail post, the 7-year-old gelded son of Distorted Humor found his best stride after working his way around horses and into the clear at the top of the stretch--just like he did two starts back over a mile--and out-closed all to garner his third career win in 30 starts. It was also his 15th top-three finish.

The final time was 1:24.04, with two lengths back to runner-up Shanty Star and another length back to Rebel Streak. 

"Obviously he's ultra-consistent and that's the second time he's won this season," Beasley said. "He's done nothing wrong throughout the season and has improved. He's obviously thriving at the moment. He went about his job really nicely." 

Turf routers finally got a chance to strut their stuff over 12 furlongs--a complete circuit of the Meydan turf course--and it was Godolphin's well-supported market favourite Global Heat  frying them up in the end to the tune of an easy 3 1/2-length win.

Rated beautifully behind the leaders throughout by Pat Cosgrave, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained son of Toronado won for the second time in eight starts, despite carrying top weight. Pace-setting Miracle Maker was second, holding off Hard Taskmaster by three-quarters of a length. The final time was 2:29.65, with the winner getting his final 400m (quarter-mile) in 24.10 seconds. 

"He's a nice horse," Bin Suroor said. "He won in the past in England, but now we run him in the mile and a half races and it suits him well. I talked to (Cosgrave) after the race and I said 'maybe a mile and six (furlongs) in the future' and he said 'no problem, he can stay.'

"I'm looking forward to the future for him. There's a race coming up on the 11th of February over the same trip and we'll see how he goes. He was comfortable all the way during this race and looked happy." 

On Feb. 11, there is a 2410m turf handicap for horses rated 90-108. Global Heat entered this affair with a 90 rating, thus carrying 60kgs. 

The 1900m (1 3/16 miles) handicap featured last-out Listed winner Firnas , who topped the ratings and thus the weights at 60kgs, but bucked both pressures when winning comfortably by 3 1/4 lengths over G1-winning stablemate Mkfancy, who was making his UAE and dirt debut.

Trained by Salem bin Ghadayer for Ahmad Ghalita Almheiri, the winning son of Dubawi stalked and pounced upon said pace-setter and powered on to a strong win under Royston Ffrench. Well-fancied Real World was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third. Fellow Godolphin colourbearer and market co-favourite Big Team faltered to last.

The win was Firnas' third this season and sets him up for a possible run during the DWC Carnival in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 over the same trip. Last out, he won The Entisar (Listed) over 2000m, defeating Pakistan Star, among others. 

"He doesn't do anything wrong," Bin Ghadayer said. "He's honest at home and in the mornings trains well and eats well. I can't say anything other than he's a nice, quiet animal and he's in top form and I'm not surprised to see this from him. We have many options with him." 

On Mkfancy: "The horse started to show his form the last two gallops and it was difficult for Mickael (Barzalona) to choose between Mkfancy and Firnas, so this is the signal that be believes in Mkfancy's ability. He wasn't 100% fit. I'm pretty sure he will show much better form in his next race."

Sophomores took the stage for the third and final time of the evening in the six-furlong turf dash, the Dubai Trophy. In what was expected to be a procession by well-regarded Godolphin pupil First Smile (a blue-blooded daughter of Dark Angel and Jealous Again) turned into a heartbreaker in the final strides as the filly went from obvious winner to caught by Ali Al Shafar and Abdulla Al Shafar's UK import Topper Bill . 

Trained by Satish Seemar and ridden by Richard Mullen, the former Adrian Nicholls trainee adapted beautifully to the local grass, closing with resolute strides to deny his rival, while giving her a 2kgs sex allowance. The final margin was one length, with another 2 1/4 back to Dignity Joy in third.

The final time was 1:10.16, with the winner finishing up his final 400m in 23.61 seconds. Topper Bill, a son of Intrinsic bred by Malih Al Basti, won for the second time in five starts. 

"To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise," Seemar said. "Some horses don't show it at home and he's one of those. He's been kind of a non-entity as far as when you get excited about seeing the horse. I've had many horses like that and you never say never. It's a pleasant surprise. That was most impressive. He didn't struggle and was so confident. RIchard said he was hard to pull up after the finish line." 

Under extremely patient handling by Mickael Barzalona, Wasim  worked his way through to land the seven-furlong handicap nightcap for DWC Carnival-worthy types in fine style.

Headstrong throughout, the 2018 Meydan Classic Trial-winning son of Acclamation broke well from the rail, but wished to get on with things a bit more than his pilot. Wrangled back to draft off the pace, he finally received his rein in the final stretch, pushed on nicely and won by one length over Yaalail. HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum filled out the second-through-fourth spots, with Zainhom and Moqtarreb following suit. Wasim finished up in 1:23.11 and closed his final furlong in 11.73 seconds. 

The 6-year-old winner is owned and trained by Ismail Mohammed and registered his fourth career win from 26 starts.

The evening ended with Salem bin Ghadayer's double boosting him to 18 wins. He is now leading all UAE trainers. Royston Ffrench had the lone double of the jockeys.