Satish Seemar’s operation has had a strong season, and if there is one horse in Zabeel Stables that characterises what could turn out to be a landmark campaign, it is Reynaldothewizard.
The evergreen nine-year-old gelding has been a constant in Dubai since he made his debut here a winning one under Harry Bentley in a non-Dubai World Cup Carnival event in 2010.
There have been another six wins at Meydan over the years, the summit of which was his victory in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2013.
Whether that victory had the sheer verve of his latest success, however, which involved a drubbing of a decent field in the Dubawi Stakes a month ago, is open to debate.
Reynaldothewizard was bred for the dirt and made his breakthrough in 2008 on the surface when in training with Todd Pletcher in the United States. Even at his age, there may well be more to come in Thursday night’s Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint.
“Obviously he is a real favourite for the whole team,” said Richard Mullen, his regular jockey. “He always worked well on dirt at home, but you never know how they will adapt to it in a race.
“He relished it and hopefully can build on that. Obviously this is a stronger race, but he remains in great form and we expect a big run.”
Reynaldothewizard has the considerable benefit of not having to race against old sparring partner United Color, who finished ahead of him in last season’s Golden Shaheen, but Krypton Factor, the 2012 Golden Shaheen winner, returns in the US$200,000 (Dh734,600) race.
Krypton Factor has finished ahead of Reynaldothewizard once in their five meetings.
The seven-year-old gelding has not raced since October, when he was second in a handicap on the all-weather surface of Kempton in England in October. Despite having not won on his first run of the season before, jockey Adrie De Vries is confident of a bold show.
“He has been off since October, so he should improve for the run,” De Vries said.
“However, the yard have been in good form and their horses are running well.
“Obviously the surface is an unknown, but he seems to work well on dirt at home. I am looking forward to it and think he should run a big race.”
Musbah Al Muhairi’s Rafeej showed he has adapted to the dirt surface well when he won a non-Carnival handicap at Meydan in December.
He could pose a threat under Paul Hanagan, having posted a solid time that day when ridden by Silvestre de Sousa.
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