Reynaldothewizard looking good, and Shea Shea presents De Kock’s ‘best chance’ to triumph

Satish Seemar is extremely bullish about the chances of Reynaldothewizard winning a second consecutive Dubai Golden Shaheen, and trainer Mike de Kock says his best chance of victory on Dubai World Cup night is Shea Shea.

Satish Seemar is in a confident mood. Galen Clarke/The National

 Dubai Golden Shaheen

Satish Seemar is extremely bullish about the chances of Reynaldothewizard winning a second consecutive Dubai Golden Shaheen. Reynaldothewizard handed jockey Richard Mullen his first Group 1 success 12 months ago and the master of Zabeel Stables expects the same result in the US$2 million (Dh7.34m) race. “I thought it was a one-off last year, but this season he has been in great form,” he said.” He lost on Super Saturday because he was having a little break. I expect him to win.”

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 Al Quoz Sprint

Mike de Kock said that Shea Shea is by far his best chance of securing a 10th Dubai World Cup night success. Shea Shea lines up in stall 12 on what appears to be the favoured part of Meydan Racecourse's 1,000-metres track for the defence of his Al Quoz Sprint title. "He is very well within himself. He is my best chance of the night, no doubt," De Kock said. "He has raced and proven himself at that level, whereas most of the others are still pretenders."

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 UAE Derby

Aidan O'Brien is going for a hat-trick in the UAE Derby. The Irish champion trainer is double handed with Sir John Hawkins and Giovanni Boldini, a winner of a Listed prize on the all-weather at Dundalk and runner up in the Group 1 Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf who looks the stables first choice. The Godolphin trainers Saeed bin Suroor and Charlie Appleby are also double handed with the latter's Long John, an impressive winner of the UAE 2,000 Guineas on February 13, looking the best out of the quartet. "As I keep saying, Long John shows next to nothing at home but we had been forewarned that was the case," Appleby said. "It was a big win in the UAE 2,000 Guineas but that was 1,600m and we have another 300m on Saturday in better company. I think he will stay and he is in great nick coming into the race."

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 Dubai Gold Cup

Saeed bin Suroor has won every edition of the Dubai Gold Cup since it was first introduced on the Dubai World Cup card in 2009 and with last year's winner Cavalryman and Songcraft, he is seeking an unprecedented fifth Group 2 prize. The two Godolphin horses are in fine fettle for the challenge. Cavalryman is coming off the back of a convincing win in the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy four weeks ago, while Songcraft, comes in to the race with a win and a second – beaten a head by stable companion Excellent Result on Super Saturday three weeks ago. The Mike de Kock-trained Star Empire, runner up to Cavalryman in his latest start and fifth in this race 12 months ago, looks the obvious danger.

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 Godolphin Mile

Soft Falling Rain will be the first of three thoroughbreds to defend their crowns on World Cup night when he takes his chance in the Godolphin Mile. Soft Falling Rain showed he had an extraordinary constitution when battling to victory last season and trainer Mike de Kock expects much better than when Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid's runner was ninth three weeks ago. "He was badly in need of his sprint outing on Super Saturday. We have a good draw this year, unlike 12 months ago, and he should be competitive."

Check out our INTERACTIVE RACECARD for Saturday night's events at Meydan Racecourse on Dubai World Cup night.

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