Maktoum Challenge I, a pair of mile races on dirt, are the features on tonight's eagerly awaited opening night of the 2009 Dubai International Racing Carnival. The Purebred Arabian version carries Group 1 status with the Thoroughbred race a Group 3 contest and both of last year's winner are back to defend their crowns.
Happy Boy was trained by the Brazilian Pedro Nickel Filho when winning last year and was subsequently switched to Godolphin. He is now trained by the first-season trainer Mubarak bin Shafya and will bid to become the first horse to win this race twice. However, he faces a stiff task with most of his 11 rivals having some kind of chance in a wide open race. Last year's runner-up Gloria De Campeao will have his supporters, while Frosty Secret (third) and Etihaad (fourth) can also get closer this year. Erwan Charpy's Golden Arrow was third in 2007 and sixth last year but comes here on the back of a course and distance victory, while Doug Watson's Green Coast has also won this season.
Watson said: "He is a lovely horse and lightly raced for a six-year-old. He deserves this step back up in class." He would need to reverse course and distance form from the Godolphin Mile on World Cup night with Saudi Arabia's Don Renato who was third on that occasion and whose trainer, Jerry Barton, saddled a double last week. Godolphin's Saeed bin Suroor has saddled five winners of this race and reported his My Indy, to be ridden by Frankie Dettori who is in action for the first time this year, had 'improved throughout the summer'. That said, he will need to reverse last year's UAE 2000 Guineas and Derby form with Royal Vintage who spearheads a Mike de Kock quartet in the race. The South African won this in 2005 with Grand Emporium and said: "Royal Vintage has a bit of class but will probably come on for the run. We know conditions suit though." Stable jockey Kevin Shea rides.
The Purebred Arabian race opens the card and last year's winner Kandar Du Falgas, trained by Watson, is the choice of Sheikh Hamdan's retained jockey Richard Hills. He has to go close to a repeat win but faces a very stiff opponent in Rod Simpson's Fryvlous who has won his last three - including twice over course and distance, as well as the Group 1 National Day Cup on the Abu Dhabi turf. Simpson said: "I think these are his best conditions and he has been a star."
Three tricky turf handicaps will have Pick Seven players scratching their heads with maximum fields of 12 set to contest each and luck in running looks sure to play a large part in the outcomes. jsullivan@thenational.ae Selections Selections 7.15pm Fryvolous - Kandar Du Falgas 7.45pm Happy Spirit - Inca Noble 8.20pm SOS Brillante - India Tiberina 8.55pm Masaalek - Iguazu Falls 9.30pm Irish Mayhem - Estrela Do Oriente
10.05pm Royal Vintage - Don Renato 10.40pm Sugar Ray - Rohaani NAD AL SHEBA CARD 7.15pm AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE ROUND 1 1,600m (PA) (Dirt) Group 1 US$ 55,000 1. -113 AMOKING (6y b h) 56 A.al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 1 2. -044 BAHER (8y ch h) 56 E.Lemartinel ? T.Durcan 2 3. 40-0 KAICH (9y gr g) 56 M.al Muhairi ? W.Smith 3 4. 324- KANDAR DU FALGAS (7y b h) 56 D.Watson ? R.Hills 4 5. -612 PALAPAL (6y ch h) 56 A.al Raihe ? A.Ajtebi 5
6. -112 DAHES (5y gr g) 56 E.Lemartinel ? D.Badel 6 7. -111 FRYVOLOUS (6y b g) 56 R.Simpson ? D.O'Donohoe 7 8. 410- REMARKABLE MAN (5y b h) 56 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 8 9. 6-22 PARIS GAGNER (6y gr h) 56 D.Watson ? F.Jara 9 7.45pm MUHTATHIR 7.45pm (TB) (Turf) Handicap (rated 90+) for fillies and mares $110,000 1. 211- JALMIRA (8y b m) 60 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 2 2. 200- MISS GORICA (5y b m) 58 J.Morgan ? T.Durcan 4
3. 11/ INCA NOBLE (4y ch f) 57.5 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 7 4. 065- LESSING (4y b f) 57.5 X.Nakkachdji ? C.Lemaire 5 5. 212- HAPPY SPIRIT (4y ch f) 57 H.Brown ? R.Moore 1 6. 160- CLIFTON DANCER (4y b f) 55 T.Dascombe ? R.Kingscote 3 7. 214- ESTRELA BOA (3y b f) 51.5 P.Bary ? W.Buick 6 8.15pm NAYEF FILLIES 8.20pm Conditions for 3-y-o fillies $50,000 1. 101- ESTA BAILANDO (3y gr/ro f) 62 J.Barton ? J.Verenzuela 3
2. 1- INDIA TIBERINA (3y ch f) 59 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 1 3. 1- SOS BRILLANTE (3y b f) 59 S.bin Suroor ? L.Dettori 6 4. 001- EVER LOVED (3y ch f) 55 S.Seemar ? T.Durcan 4 5. 130- JARGELLE (3y b f) 55 E.Martins ? M.Kinane 5 6. 100- PURPLE SAGE (3y b f) 55 E.Martins ? R.Mullen 2 8.55pm MUJAHID 1,500m (TB) (T) Handicap (95-110) $120,000 1. 140/ SEIHALI (10y b h) 60 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 7 2. 204- DIJEERR (5y b h) 59.5 M.bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi 11
3. 0-34 KING JOCK (8y db/br g) 59 A.Manuel ? M.Kinane 4 4. 066- SILVER MIST (6y gr g) 58 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 12 5. 323- MASAALEK (4y b c) 57.5 D.Watson ? R.Hills 2 6. 50-0 YADDREE (4y ch c) 57.5 M.bin Shafya ? J.Rosales 8 7. 4-11 EMIRATES GOLD (6y b h) 57 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 5 8. 00-0 EMIRATES SKYLINE (6y b g) 57 A.bin Huzaim ? W.Supple 9 9. 204- FATEH FIELD (4y b c) 57 S.bin Suroor ? T.Durcan 1 10. 0-00 BOSTON LODGE (9y ch g) 56.5 D.Watson ? E.Ahern 10
11. 30-0 GRAND VISTA (5y b h) 56.5 H.Brown ? K.Latham 3 12. 000- IGUAZA FALLS (4y ch c) 56.5 S.bin Suroor ? L.Dettori 6 13. -422 MONTPELLIER (6y b/br g) 56 A.al Raihe ? RESERVE 14. 56-2 EASY TARGET (4y ch c) 55.5 X.Nakkachdji ? RESERVE 15. 506- BRUGES (4y b c) 55.5 A.al Raihe RESERVE 16. 56-6 MEYDAN CITY (4y b c) 55.5 M.bin Shafya ? RESERVE 9.30pm GREEN DESERT 1,777m (TB) (T) Handicap (100+) $175,000
1. 301- HEARTHSTEAD MAISON (5y b h) 60 M.Johnston ? R.Moore 6 2. 11-0 WITH INTEREST (6y b h) 57.5 M.bin Shafya ? J.Rosales 8 3. 0-21 BRAVE TIN SOLDIER (5y b h) 56.5 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 4 4. 530- THIRD SET (6y b g) 56.5 M.bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi 7 5. 0-63 YASOODD (6y br g) 55 D.Selvaratnam ? W.Buick 2 6. 61-5 GLEN NEVIS (5y db/br h) 54.5 A.al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 9 7. 5-30 IGOR PROTTI (7y b h) 54.5 A.bin Huzaim ? W.Supple 12
8. 100- FATHAYER (4y ch c) 54 A.al Raihe ? R.Mullen 10 9. 011- IRISH MAYHEM (4y db/br c) 54 S.bin Suroor ? T.Durcan 11 10. 400/ RAZKALLA (11y b g) 54 R.Bouresly ? W.Smith 3 11. 121- RED EYE EXPRESS (4y b c) 53 Non-runner 12. 311- ESTRELA DO ORIENTE (3y b c) 51 P.Bary ? C.Lemaire 5 13. 64/0 CHARLIE COOL (6y ch h) 53.5 D.Selvaratnam ? RESERVE 14. 2-35 FENICE (6y gr g) 53.5 S.Seemar ? RESERVE 15. 330- GOLD SOVEREIGN (5y b g) 53.5 I.Mohammed ? RESERVE
10.05pm AL MAKTOUM CHALLENGE ROUND 1 1,600m (TB) (D) Group 3 $200,000 1. 01-4 JET EXPRESS (6y b g) 57 A.al Raihe ? R.Ffrench 1 2. 204- ROYAL VINTAGE (4y ch c) 57 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 2 3. 033- DON RENATO (5y ch h) 57 J.Barton ? J.Verenzuela 3 4. 50-1 GOLDEN ARROW (6y b h) 57 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 4 5. 33-0 TRNITIY COLLEGE (5y ch h) 57 M.de Kock ? R.Moore 5 6. 00-0 ETIHAAD (7y b h) 57 R.Bouresly ? W.Smith 6
7. 00-1 GREEN COAST (6y b h) 57 D.Watson ? F.Jara 7 8. 10-2 FROSTY SECRET (5y db/br h) 57 M.de Kock ? K.Latham 8 9. 460- HAPPY BOY (5y gr h) 57 M.bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi 9 10. 230- MY INDY (4y br c) 57 S.bin Suroor ? L.Dettori 10 11. 221- ART OF WAR (4y b g) 57 M.de Kock ? T.Durcan 11 12. 030- GLORIA DE CAMPEAO (5y b h) 57 P.Bary ? C.Lemaire 12 10.40pm HAAFHD 2,400m (TB) (T) Handicap (95-110) $120,000
1. 055- LION SANDS (5y b g) 60 A.bin Huzaim ? W.Supple 3 2. 640- BOOK OF MUSIC (6y b g) 58.5 S.Seemar ? R.Mullen 2 3. 316- ENGRUPIDO (5y gr g) 58 M.de Kock ? K.Shea 11 4. 65-0 GRAVITAS (6y ch h) 58 M.bin Shafya ? A.Ajtebi 4 5. 102- SUGAR RAY (5y b g) 58 S.bin Suroor ? L.Dettori 1 6. 04-5 CRIME SCENE (6y b g) 57.5 M.bin Shafya ? J.Rosales 8 7. 132- VARSITY (6y b m) 57 C.Swan ? K.Latham 6 8. 010- BEFORE YOU GO (6y b g) 56.5 E.Charpy ? T.O'Shea 12
9. 014- FAR FROM OLD (6y b h) 56.5 J.Hammond ? F.Jara 10 10. 00-2 ROHAANI (7y ch h) 56.5 D.Watson ? R.Hills 5 11. 040- AGE OF REASON (4y b g) 55.5 S.bin Suroor ? T.Durcan 7 12. 014- DETONATOR (4y b g) 55.5 M.bin Shafya ? M.Kinane 9 13. 500- LOVE GALORE (4y b c) 54.5 M.Johnston ? RESERVE 14. 006- DR FAUSTUS (4y gr c) 53.5 D.Watson ? RESERVE 15. 0-00 SUNDAY SYMPHONY (7y br g) 54.5 ? RESERVE 16. 4-40 BENNIE BLUE (6y ch h) 54.5 M.de Kock ? RESERVE
