Michael Hilary Burke and Negar Burke’s KILLER COLLECT (c, 3, Collected–Comforter, by Nobiz Like Shobiz) was game to the end of the Listed Al Bastikiya Presented by Longines to fend off the persistent challenge of Auto Bahn (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) to win by a neck.
A pointer for the G2 UAE Derby at the end of March, the race featured the winner pressed by his chief foe in earnest by the time they reached the 400-metre mark. Those two eventually separated themselves by daylight from the chasing pack and slugged it out to the wire. At one point, it appeared Auto Bahn would grind by, but Killer Collect fought back, and undoubtedly benefitted from a 10-pound pull in the weights. Tactical Bound (Good Magic) wound up third, 5 1/2 lengths behind the top two at the wire.
“I was devastated the last time when nothing went right in the Guineas after he fluffed his lines in the gates,” said Tadhg O’Shea. “He’s a lovely horse, I’ve loved him from day one, even when he was unsold at the sale here – I rang Michael Burke [owner] and luckily he decided to buy him.
“He’s got the perfect gap now; five weeks, so all roads lead to the [G2 UAE] Derby on World Cup night.”
Third on debut sprinting here in November, the dark bay drew off to win by 7 1/2 lengths upped to 1600 metres on Dec. 8. A €55,556 buy-back out of the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale, he found only Mendelssohn Bay (Mendelssohn) too good in the Jan. 26 G3 UAE 2000 Guineas and upped his game accordingly on Friday.
His dam was stakes-placed six times, and has a 2-year-old colt by Vekoma and a yearling filly by Yaupon. She was covered by Sharp Azteca last year. Killer Collect is kin to Canadian champion Here’s Hannah (Numaany), as well as G2 Richmond S. winner and sire Muqtarib (Gone West).
AL BASTAKIYA PRESENTED BY LONGINES-Listed, AE$800,000, Meydan, 2-23, 3yo, 9 1/2f, 1:59.01, fs.
1–KILLER COLLECT, 121, c, 3, by Collected
1st Dam: Comforter, by Nobiz Like Shobiz
2nd Dam: Shepherd’s Girl, by Rod And Staff
3rd Dam: Ra’a, by Diesis (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($70,000 Ylg ’22 KEEJAN; $75,000 Ylg
’22 KEESEP; €55,556 RNA 2yo ’23 GOFMAR). O-Michael Hilary
Burke & Negar Burke; B-Romar Farm LLC & BRS (KY); T-Bhupat
Seemar; J-Tadhg O’Shea. AE$480,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-
UAE, 5-2-2-1, AE$741,500.
2–Auto Bahn (Arg), 131, c, 3, Asiatic Boy (Arg)–Autografiada
(Arg), by Giant’s Causeway. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Sheikh
Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum; B-Al Adiyaat Argentina
S.A (ARG); T-Julio Olascoaga. AE$160,000.
3–Tactical Bound, 122, c, 3, Good Magic–Jet Black Magic, by
Hold Me Back. 1ST BLACK TYPE. ($65,000 Ylg ’22 KEESEP;
€222,222 2yo ’23 GOFMAR). O-Victorious Racing; B-White Fox
Farm (KY); T-Fawzi Abdulla Nass. AE$80,000.
Margins: NK, 5HF, NK.
Also Ran: Destructive, Tokyo Tower, Quartier (Uru), Bismilah Alik, Tapit‘staleofverve, Shababy, Falcon Of Arabia, Elyabri, The Caribbean (Ire). Click for the ERA chart and video.
