Mill Reef victor Words Of Truth headlines Meydan card
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Thu 8 Jan 2026
Mill Reef winner Words Of Truth is one of the star attractions at Meydan on Friday.
Charlie Appleby’s three-year-old completed a juvenile hat-trick in Newbury’s September Group Two and rounded off his campaign by finishing third on Champions Day at Ascot.
Clear on ratings, the son of Lope De Vega appears the first string of two runners for the Godolphin handler in the Al Wasl Stakes conditions race alongside stablemate Maximised, winner of the Woodcote at Epsom in June.
“Words Of Truth proved a solid campaigner last season and has wintered well so far. He looks the one they all have to beat on the form book, and we are confident that conditions here will suit,” said Appleby.
“Maximized showed a decent level of form heading into the first part of the summer but lost his way slightly afterwards. He has been gelded and his preparation going into this has been faultless. If he can get back to his early two-year-old form, he will be a big player.”
The Godolphin silks are also carried by Sword Maker, who won three of his five starts at two for Saeed bin Suroor.
Bin Suroor said: “Sword Maker improved throughout last season and has been working well out in Dubai. He is ready to get going and this looks the right race for him. We will give him a chance and see how he goes.”
The British contingent also includes the Charlie Fellowes-trained Ghisa, Jamie Osborne’s Do Or Do Not and the Victorious Forever-owned duo of Flying Comet and Hilitany, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford and George Boughey respectively.
Flying Comet was third behind Words Of Truth in the Mill Reef, while Hilitany looked smart in winning twice at Windsor but seemingly had his limitations exposed when finishing down the field in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.
Victorious Forever’s racing manager, Chris Wall, said: “We’re looking forward to running them, there is a nice programme of races for them out there at the Carnival and this was the logical place to start.
“It’s a shame we’re going to have to take on the Mill Reef winner at level weights, but aside from that they’ve both travelled out well and have been training well out there, so we’re hopeful that we’ll get a good run from the two of them and we’ll then be able to make future plans.”
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