Ahead of the second weekend of Dubai World Cup Carnival, Georrefy Riddle provides five things to watch out for at Meydan Racecourse.
Harry Redknapp
The English football manager will be at Meydan as the part-owner of Moviesta, who tries dirt for the first time in the Dubawi Stakes.
Redknapp was at morning track work at 6.30am on Wednesday to watch his son of Hard Spun, who last ran at Meydan when he finished a lacklustre 14th of 15 in the 2015 Meydan Sprint.
Louise Redknapp, his daughter-in-law, by right of her marriage to Redknapp’s son, Jamie, was posting social media photos from Dubai this week but the couple went home on Saturday.
Pistol
Swedish raider Pistol lines up in the 1,600-metre handicap at 8.15pm to become trainer Patrick Wahl’s first runner in the UAE. Pistol also becomes the first horse to advertise the form of Sweden’s newest racecourse, Bro Park, which opened in June. Four of Pistol’s five wins have come on dirt, so the Mina Hariya worth $125,000 (Dh459,000) should be perfect. Wahl also runs Arabda in the following race.
Wildcat Red
It is not often that Meydan is graced by a horse that ran in the Kentucky Derby so early in the season, but Wildcat Red is exactly that. Formerly trained by Jose Garoffalo, the six-year-old American-bred entire finished 30 lengths off California Chrome in the 2014 Run For The Roses. Since then he has showed glimmers of top-class form and has joined UAE champion trainer Doug Watson. He runs in the dirt handicap over 1,600 metres at 8.15pm.
David Elsworth
David Elsworth has his first runner at Meydan when Sea Of Flames runs against Wildcat Red at 8.15pm. The 77-year-old trainer used to visit Dubai when Nad Al Sheba was still standing and his last winner in Dubai was Gower Song in the 2008 Dubai City Of Gold. With the news coming out of England that Kempton racecourse is set to be demolished in 2021, a penny for the thoughts from the trainer of Desert Orchid, who won four King George VI Chases at the racecourse to the west of London.
Tahanee
Trainer Mike De Kock admitted last week that bringing horses over from South America was an inexact science. He saddled Saltarin Dubai to be sixth in the 1,900-metre handicap last week, but Lindo Amor ran well to finish third in the Al Maktoum Challenge on his first start since May. Tahanee, a filly by Stormy Atlantic, is a Grade 3 winner in Argentina and runs in the 1,600-metre turf handicap at 8.50pm.
