It is almost like the old days. Godolphin have 13 runners across Thursday’s fourth Dubai World Cup Carnival card with former champion trainer Saeed bin Suroor gunning for his 200th Carnival winner with eight of those.
The master of Al Quoz has accumulated 198 victories since the Carnival was first put together in 2004 and will attempt to hit the double century with a strong hand in the feature races.
The long-standing Godolphin trainer will saddle Very Special in the hope she can defend her crown in the Group 2 Cape Verdi, while stablemate Promising Run will attempt to prevent Mike de Kock and Christophe Soumillon from winning a sixth straight Al Rashidiya with impressive South African import Light The Lights.
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Bin Suroor also tries Best Solution and Top Score on dirt for the first time in the UAE 2,000 Guineas Trial, and handicap runners Prize Money and Steady Pace would also have decent chances.
Bin Suroor leads the Carnival standings with three winners from 11 runners, which is a strong return for a stable with only 20 horses. It is a far cry from the glory days when he dominated the Carnival with a huge stable and seven successive titles from 2008, but reclaiming the championship from Doug Watson is clearly in the back of his mind.
“Winning my first leading trainers title in 2008 with 24 winners was a special memory and also an honour for me as it was in my hometown of Dubai,” Bin Suroor said.
“The trainer’s crown is a tough ask with a smaller string but that is always the objective.”
His World Cup night successes aside, the highlight of his Carnival career was three years ago on Super Saturday.
“We had four winners that night,” he recalled. “Secret Number won the Listed Al Bastakiya, African Story the Group 3 Burj Nahaar, Hunter’s Light the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 and Sajjhaa the Group 1 Jebel Hatta. She went on to win the Dubai Duty Free that year, too.”
Of all his runners on Thursday it is Very Special who holds the best chance. Last season the daughter of Lope De Vega became the fourth filly to add on the Balanchine to a win in the Cape Verdi. After just nine starts she must still be progressing and there is every chance that jockey Jim Crowley will be able to dominate from the front, with only Swedish challenger Arabda having any history of setting the pace. Of her nine rivals it is William Haggas’s British raider Muffri’ha, ridden by Pat Cosgrave, who poses the most significant threat.
Very Special ran just once in Europe in 2016, when she added to her sixth in the Dubai Turf with a second to Aidan O’Brien’s classy Alice Springs in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in July. She has not run since, but Bin Suroor agrees that the five-year-old mare is his most likely winner on the night.
“Very Special thrived in Dubai last year and she is doing well again this season,” he said.
“She will improve for the run but is on target to run well. Promising Run is in good form and training well and the drop back in trip will be in her favour. Best Solution is already a Group winner in the UK and he will be joined by Top Score. They are both in good form but it is their first attempt at racing on the dirt.”
If Very Special is Bin Suroor’s standard-bearing mare on turf, Really Special showed last week she is the understudy on dirt. Really Special slammed the UAE 1,000 Guineas field, and although she travelled the shortest route out of any of her 13 rivals it was a gutsy performance over 1,400 metres. Bin Suroor believes the daughter of Shamardal could feature on World Cup night over the 2,000 metres of the UAE Derby against the colts. It is a trick he pulled off when Khawlah beat the boys in 2011.
“It was a very good performance from Really Special considering it was her absolute minimum trip,” he said.
“She acted on the dirt but I feel she can potentially be better on the turf. She will go towards the UAE Guineas and the UAE Oaks and would remain a possibility for the UAE Derby as we have done before but it will depend on the strength of the colts.”
Bin Suroor is back.
Five things to look out for at Meydan
■ Classy Purebred Arabians
The only Group 1 race on the card is for the Purebred Arabians, the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 that opens Thursday’s proceedings. French trainer Francois Rohaut has his first runner of the UAE season when he saddles up Handassa, the Dubai Kahayla Classic fourth. Sniper De Monlau is the highest-rated horse in the race following his win in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup in Abu Dhabi last month.
■ Light The Lights could dazzle in the Al Rashidiya
Mike de Kock knows how to win the Al Rashidiya. Not only has he won the past five in tandem with jockey Christophe Soumillon, but he has won the Group 2 race eight times in total. Light The Lights edged out Championship by a neck on his first run for a year three weeks ago and that was hardly a straightforward race. Championship went on to land the Al Fahidi Fort last week and although it might be a messy race again, Light The Lights should have improved for his run.
■ Jim Crowley in the Royal blue
Jim Crowley rode 13 times for Godolphin in Britain last year but takes his first ride in Dubai for the racing operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Crowley is the retained rider of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid. Promising Run is up against Light The Lights and should push the South African raider all the way.
■ Flown-in jockeys
There are several jockeys on the banned list this week so there are a few new faces who make their UAE seasonal debut. Andrea Atzeni takes his first ride here since he guided Postponed to victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic in March when he partners Majeed at 7.05pm. He has three other rides on Thursday. Adam Kirby has flown in due to the absence of William Buick and rides for Charlie Appleby, while Irishman Oisin Murphy has five mounts.
■ Don't desert Desert God
The Indian challenger arrived for the Carnival with a huge reputation due to nine straight wins before he flopped badly on the opening night of the Carnival three weeks ago. He was caught three-wide under David Allan, who was having his first ride at Meydan, and much better can be expected tonight in the 7.05pm race.
Geoffrey Riddle’s Meydan tips:
■ 6.30pm - Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2: Sniper De Monlau
■ 7.05pm – Aabar Properties: Desert God
■ 7.40pm – Al Rashidiya: Light The Lights
■ 8.15pm – UAE 2,000 Guineas Trial: Top Score
■ 8.50pm – Cape Verdi: Very Special
■ 9.25pm – ADCOP: Heavy Metal
■ 10pm – Borealis: Eastern Impact
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