Ed Marnane
Super Saturday promises to be cracking night of racing at Meydan, featuring a card laden with Group races and can provide plenty of clues for the Dubai World Cup next month.
Charlie Appleby, operating at a remarkable 29.8% strike-rate at Meydan this season, is the trainer to follow and saddles seven runners in four of the nine races.
Mountain Breeze, Appleby’s first runner, can claim the Jumeirah 1000 Guineas, Race 2. The Godolphin owned homebred is a smart filly, most recently ran out a resounding winner of the Mawj Stakes on her Meydan debut. She has the measure of the reopposing Octans and Lhakpa and it is hard to see her getting beaten.
Champion trainer Bhupat Seemar is responsible for three of the 16 runners in the Al Maktoum Classic, a key local trial for the Dubai World Cup.
Stable jockey Tadhg O’Shea rides progressive Imperial Emperor, winner of two of his three races since joining Seemar. He ran well when second to Walk Of Stars in the Al Maktoum Challenge (Group 1), his sole defeat of the season. Imperial Emperor has a wide draw (15) to defy but he’s a horse blessed with early pace and should go well.
Qareeb, winner of the Jebel Ali Mile last month, is improving and is at the top of his game. He’s equally effective at Meydan, winning three times and rarely running a poor race since joining Musabbeh Al Mheiri.
Qareeb is bidding to give Al Mheiri back-to-back wins in the race after Military Law caused a big upset 12 months ago. Qareeb holds solid each-way claims in the hands of the red-hot Silvestre de Sousa.
Race 7, the Dubai City of Gold, a trial for the Sheema Classic, has been won six times by Appleby and Arabian Crown and Silver Knott, the choice of William Buick, represent the Godolphin trainer. Not seen since finishing third in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (Grade 1) at Belmont Park, Silver Knott is the class act and holds leading claims on his Meydan debut.
Lightly raced Arabian Crown, winner of four of his five races, can’t be ignored under James Doyle, who won the 2015 Dubai City of Gold on Sky Hunter for Godolphin. He was a progressive colt in the spring last year and Godolphin’s leading hope for the Derby until a setback ruled him out of the Epsom showpiece. He commands respect.
George Scott’s much-improved West Acre created a big impression in the Blue Point Stakes (Group 2), building on his narrow defeat in the Al Wasl Stakes on his UAE debut. He smashed the track record when easily defeating Ponntos and Cover Up, producing a spectacular turn of foot under a confident ride from Callum Sheppard.
West Acre can follow up in Race 4, the Nad Al Sheba Sprint, a trial for the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night. He’s an exciting sprinter and can prove too good for his 14 rivals.
Admirable Tuz, the UAE’s champion dirt sprinter and winner of the Golden Shaheen (Group 1) last year, has been unbeaten at Meydan this season and should prove hard to beat in Race 8, the Mahab Al Shimaal (Group 3).
Trained by Seemar, he has impressed in all three starts since returning from his summer break and continues to find plenty under pressure. He’s a tough horse, better than ever and is ideally drawn in stall No 5. Tuz can give Seemar his third successive Mahab Al Shimaal.
Racing concludes with the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas and Godolphin’s hopes rest with Appleby-trained pair Ruling Court and Hallasan, recent winner of the Jumeirah Guineas Trial. Ridden by Richard Mullen, he showed a likeable attitude to get better of the odds-on favourite Al Qudra. The runner-up, trained by Appleby, gave the form a boost when winning the valuable Al Rayyan Mile on his Qatar debut next time.
Buick has chosen to ride Ruling Court, winner of a minor event at Sandown on his racecourse debut last July. The son of Justify, a €2.3m (R44m) breeze-up purchase in France, has something to prove after disappointing when warm favourite for Acomb Stakes (Group 2) at York’s Ebor Festival. He has been off the track since but it is encouraging Buick keeps faith in the lightly raced colt.
Appleby and Buick team up in Race 5, the Singspiel Stakes (Group 2), with the globe-trotting Nations Pride, winner of two of his three races at Meydan. By Teofilo, Nations Pride needs to bounce back after disappointing trip to the USA, where he met minor traffic before dropping away to finish a poor ninth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park in late January.
He can easily rediscover his best form over a track that suits.
Mickael Barzalona has picked up the ride on unexposed First Conquest, replacing Buick who partnered the colt to victory in the Dubai Millennium Stakes (Group 3) in January. First Conquest is a progressive four-year-old unbeaten at Meydan and has more to offer on just his seventh start of his career.
The most open race on the card is the Burj Nahaar, over a 1600m on dirt. A full field of 16 run and Japan, fresh from winning four races at the Saudi Cup meeting last Saturday, are represented by T O Saint Denis. Rated 106, he has the services of Oisin Murphy and should enjoy the drop in grade having contested the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in November.
Wathnan Racing are presented by Cagliostro, trained by Hamad Al Jehani. He ran well in defeat on his UAE debut in the Firebreak Stakes, over the same course and distance, finishing a close third behind shock winner King Gold. He’s entitled to improve for that run and is one for the shortlist.
Charles Hills saddles Ancient Rome and has booked Callum Sheppard to ride the War Front gelding. Winner of six of his 23 races, he was soundly beaten in the Jebel Hatta and is readily dismissed switching to dirt in this grade.
The pick of the home team is Rawy, trained by Doug Watson for RRR Racing and Pat Dobbs rides. Formerly trained by Julio Olascoaga, he has progressed with racing this season and caught the eye in the Jebel Ali Sprint (Listed), keeping on nicely in the closing stages having been slowly away to finish less than four lengths behind Royal Commando.
The ability to see out the mile is an obvious query but he could reward each-way support at big odds if his stamina holds up. Watson has a good record in the Burj Nahar, winning four of the last 10 renewals, three were ridden by Dobbs.
BEST BET
Race 6 No 11 Imperial Emperor
VALUE BET
Race 3 No 12
BEST SWINGER
Race 9: 3 Hallasan and 8 The Fingal Raven
JACKPOT
(Races 6-9)
R24
Leg 1: 11, 16
Leg 2: 6, 7
Leg 3: 3, 6, 11
Leg 4: 3, 6