Aomori City runner-up on comeback in G2 Zabeel Mile

Aomori City made late gains to take second on his return from a break in the G2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan, UAE, on Friday, 2 January.

The Charlie Appleby-trained four-year-old, a G2 winner in the UK as a juvenile, was smartly into his stride on his first appearance since May and tracked the leaders in fifth of the 10 runners.

Having been shuffled back a couple of places approaching the halfway point, Aomori City travelled strongly into the race in the straight and picked up well for William Buick to go fourth with a furlong and a half left.

Aomori City continued to rally, taking second from Audience and Vafortino in the closing strides to go down by a length and a quarter to Quddwah, a Godolphin-bred son of the 2013 Dubai Turf heroine Sajjhaa.

Charlie Appleby said: “Aomori City ran well, especially considering he had been off the track for a while and was having his first experience of Meydan. We nominated him for the new Abu Dhabi Gold Cup next month and this should hopefully put him spot-on for that race.”