Brave Brackan battles to third Brendan Brackan enjoyed a nice payday at Meydan on Thursday when he finished an honourable third in round one of the Al Maktoum Challenge. Ger Lyons' talented five-year-old gelding made encouraging late progress along the far rail under Colin Keane, but he had to be content with minor honours behind Shuruq. Lyons will nonetheless be delighted as he had warned that Brendan Brackan could be suffering from fatigue following the journey from Ireland to Dubai. Empire Storm ran a huge race from the front for the Michael Attwater team, but Kieren Fallon's partner was overtaken late in the piece and finished second behind Godolphin's impressive winner. Victorious jockey Silvestre de Sousa said: "I'm very pleased the way she did it. She should improve for the run." Godolphin's Steeler, who was also returning from an imposed absence as a consequence of the Mahmood Al Zarooni scandal, finished fourth.
