Heart Of Honor returns with stylish Meydan victory

Jamie Osborne’s Heart Of Honor made an impressive return to the Middle East to claim the Nakheel Stakes at Meydan.

The excellent dirt performer had a productive time in Dubai last winter, winning twice and also going close in a trio of smart events, including when beaten by the barest of margins on World Cup night in the UAE Derby.

He would go on to contest the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in America, but focus has now returned firmly to the Persian Gulf, with the three-year-old a warm order to make a winning reappearance.

Kept wide in the early stages and towards the rear, Heart Of Honor hit a not untypical flat spot swinging the bend for home, but soon got motoring in the hands of Saffie Osborne to run out a clear-cut winner.

Jamie Osborne said: “He doesn’t make life easy for us with his style and he was a bit rusty and slow away.

“We tracked a bit deep early and Saffie made the right decision to just come in and track Galactic Star and you just felt there was still a lot of petrol left and thankfully that’s what happened. It’s a great way to start his UAE season.

“He’s frightened us many times in his races and if you look at the UAE Derby it looked like he would finish sixth at one point and then got beat an inch.

“It’s his style and there’s an element of laziness to him, but he conserves his energy and over this trip when they have gone a nice easy gallop like that, he is always going to finish off well.”

Osborne added: “He’ll go for the Listed Entisaar (December 19) now and he’ll be unpenalised as he has still never won anything other than a maiden and a conditions race.”

Elsewhere on the card, Charlie Appleby’s Devon Island opened his account in the Palm Central Maiden Stakes, handing Osborne’s Brotherly Love a four-and-three-quarter-lengths beating.