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Rich Tapestry suffered a reversal at the hands of the trail-blazing Muarrab at Meydan when the locally-trained sprinter foiled the Hong Kong star in his bid for a second triumph in the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal.

The Michael Change-trained Rich Tapestry battled on to claim third on Dubai’s Super Saturday program.

The Holy Roman Emperor eight-year-old broke well enough from gate three in the six-runner contest but was no match for the early speed of Muarrab, a rival he had beaten a length and a half into second in last month’s G3 Al Shindagha Sprint.

Rich Tapestry enjoyed a smooth lead last time but on this occasion jockey Gerald Mosse was forced to race second outside the all-the-way winner.

Chang’s globe-trotting stalwart never looked at ease as he chased a repeat of his 2014 success.

“The pace was really strong from the gate and I didn’t want to burn myself to try to go faster than him, so I just tried to give myself a chance,” said the Frenchman.

“He really respected that and gave a nice blow when I asked him in the straight. He still tried to stretch – I’m very pleased with the horse because he gave his best.”

The Musabah Al Muhairi-trained Muarrab kicked away under Paul Hanagan to put five and a quarter lengths on the field and break American speedster Secret Circle’s track record – set in last year’s G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen – with a time of 1m 10.2.

Kifaah kept on past Rich Tapestry to take second.

Chang was philosophical in defeat and is now looking ahead to the Golden Shaheen on 26 March, a race in which Rich Tapestry has placed second and third in the past two editions.

“You can see the time,” said the trainer. “We could not beat that.

“I’m not disappointed with my horse, I think he has done his job and now we’ll look ahead to the Golden Shaheen.

“He always tries hard and he did that again today. He’s an old man and he knows the job better than me so I’ll just keep him fresh.”