These connections and this family have become one of the leading storylines in Dubai in the last few years. First we had the performances of Heart of Honor to hit the frame in the UAE 2,000 Guineas and UAE Derby, which were followed up by impressive victories in the autumn last year and now we have his half-brother doing the same. Brotherly Love won the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby Stakes here in February before finishing a fair 4th in the UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup Night. He emerged as one of the leading three-year-olds at the end of last season, but I would have to argue that the signs on Friday night were that he is going to be a much better horse this time around. A rating of 99 meant that he came into this conditions race as the joint-highest rated runner in the field and at the weights, he was better treated than most. However, what we saw from Brotherly Love on Friday was a far more professional performance than he managed in the last campaign. Jamie Osborne’s son of Zoustar had a habit of finishing his races well last year, but it took him 3 attempts to get off the mark in Dubai, despite the fact that he consistently ran a faster final furlong than the winner. He was slowly away on Friday too and his opening furlong splits of 14.64 and 10.89s ranked last of the seven runners in this race too, but unlike last year, he recovered quickly under an inspired ride from Danny Tudhope and was in a much better position to make his challenge as they came around the turn. With 3 furlongs to run, he was less than a second behind the leader and once he came around the field as they straightened for home, he lengthened his stride and was on terms in a matter of moments. At a peak average of 8.26m, Brotherly Love had the longest stride length in the field and indeed on the night. The ability to lengthen like that meant that he was taking the best part of half a metre out of the runner-up (Sirocco Winds) with every stride in the home straight as he powered away to win by over 5 lengths with the fastest closing splits in the field. Sirocco Winds remains lightly raced and did little wrong in Friday’s race, but he simply had no answer when Brotherly Love kicked into top gear.