Measured Time another Gr.1 winner for Frankel

The four-year-old Godolphin homebred surged to victory in the Gr.1 Jebel Hatta on Friday (26th January) becoming the 34th worldwide top-level winner for Frankel.

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 27th January 2024, by Heather Anderson:

Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby were winning their third group race of the evening after half-siblings Mysterious Night and Star Of Mystery won the Gr.2 Al Fahidi Fort and Gr.2 Blue Point Sprint, respectively, earlier on the card. In the nightcap, Siskany would take the Listed Al Khail Trophy to bring up four winners on the day for Appleby and the Godolphin blue.

The pick of William Buick despite the presence of three other Godolphin runners including Gr.1 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj, the four-year-old perched just one off and one back of that rival's shoulder for much of the Jebel Hatta's 1800-metre trip. The duo tracked fellow Godolphin runner Highland Avenue for the duration, who at one point had as many as eight lengths on the field. Buick gave Measured Time his cue in upper stretch, and he soon reeled in Highland Avenue, before striding out a length and three-quarters winner. The fourth Godolphin runner in the nine-strong field, U.S. graded winner Ottoman Fleet unleashed a strong late burst to take second, three-quarters of a length in front of Gr.2 Zabeel Mile winner San Donato in third.

"I'm delighted, obviously," said the Godolphin trainer after his first Group 1 win of 2024. "We knew it was a big step up with Mawj in there - a Classic winner and a filly we hold close to our hearts. He'll likely go straight to the Dubai Turf now."

A winner of his first three starts last year, the first pair over the Kempton all-weather going a mile and the third a 10 furlong race over the Newmarket turf, Measured Time ran second in the Listed Floodlit Stakes back on synthetic at Kempton in November. He broke his stakes duck with a three and a quarter-length victory in the Gr.2 Al Rashidiya going this trip at Meydan in December.