The G2 Cape Verdi was the feature contest at Meydan on Thursday, 16 January and the race produced one of the finishes of the Carnival to date as Magic Lily (New Approach) battled superbly to just edge out Nisreen (Raven’s Pass).
Magic Lily was settled in second position under James Doyle, while Dubai Blue carved out the early fractions. Ridden along as the field turned for home, Magic Lily was hard pressed all the way to the line by Nisreen but just got up to win by a short head.
The Charlie Appleby-trained mare was a very smart two-year-old, winning on her debut by eight lengths at Newmarket, before taking third in the G1 Fillies’ Mile. Last year she added further Black Type to her record with a second in the Listed Prix Dahlia at Saint-Cloud.
Magic Lily is out of Champion three-year-old and G1 Oaks winner Dancing Rain. Her full brother Jalmoud was third in last year’s G1 Grand Prix de Paris.
New Approach stands at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket alongside his Derby-winning son Masar. Their fees are £30,000 and £15,000 respectively, both Oct 1, SLF terms.
