Five defending champions line-up Meydan on Super Saturday, the official dress rehearsal for the $30.5 million Dubai World Cup meeting later this month.
This year’s enhanced nine-race card has more than $2.3million in prize money and includes three Group 1’s.
Can Salute The Soldier do it?
The official feature is the $450,000 Gr1 Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (Sponsored by Emirates Airline), which sees the Fawzi Nass-trained Salute The Soldier try to become the first horse to win it two years in a row.
Up against him is Gr2 Godolphin Mile third Avant Garde, who has his second run for trainer Bhupat Seemar, having missed the break when seventh in the Gr2 Maktoum Challenge Round 1 in January.
“He’s a giant horse, he’s 17.hh so it’s very hard to get him fit, and a mile is too short for him anyway,” said Seemar. “That run was to help get him ready and hopefully now this is his right trip. The way he ran in the Godolphin Mile… he came from last in the straight and flew home. He was eating up the ground so you’d think he’s a mile and quarter horse.
Seemar, who runs five in the 2000metre contest, also saddles course and distance winner Remorse, who was second in the Gr3 Jebel Ali Mile last time out.
“Remorse is doing really well,” he said. “He galloped on Monday and he galloped so well that I was thinking ‘a mile and a quarter, is this his best distance or what, I’m not sure’, because he’s got so much speed.
“But he’s always been a good horse. He’s won for us already this season and he’s run three seconds in three really big races, unlucky sometimes too.”
Seemar is also stacked in the Gr3 Burj Nahaar [Sponsored by Emirates SkyCargo] with Tuz, Royal Mews, and Imperial Empire all taking their chance. Up against them in the Godolphin Mile prep is 2021 Gr3 UAE 2000 Guineas winner Mouheeb, who finished fourth in the Gr3 Jebel Ali Mile last time out.
“Mouheeb is drawn wide and it’s not an easy race but hopefully he can give a good account of himself,” said trainer Nicholas Bachalard. “He was a bit unlucky last time [in the Gr3 Jebel Ali Mile] and didn’t get a lot of cover.”
The Jebel Ali Mile was won by the Algiers, trained by Simon Crisford, who now must translate that form to the more conventional Meydan dirt surface.
“It’s his first time running on the Meydan dirt track so he might need the experience,” said Assistant Trainer Ed Crisford, who co-trains with his father in the UK. “He’s bounced out of Jebel Ali really well and he’s got a good draw [3], which of course makes all the difference.
“The aim is the Godolphin Mile, so we want to get him as much experience on the dirt track as possible and this race is perfect for him.”
The second Group 1 on the card is the Jebel Hatta [Sponsored by Emirates Airline], over 1800m on turf; the prep for the Dubai Turf. Charlie Appleby runs four-time Group 1 winner Barney Roy, who was successful in this race in 2020, as well as Zakouski, the pick of stable jockey William Buick, and Highland Avenue.
Barney Roy – back from a break and out to repeat 2020 win
“Barney Roy has enjoyed a nice break since Bahrain when he put up a good performance behind Lord Glitters,” said the reigning British Champion Trainer. “He looks great and his preparation has gone well. We always intended to come straight here – we gave him an entry in the Gr3 Dubai Millennium Stakes last week to see what the race was shaping up like but this was always the main aim.
“We were delighted with Zakouski in the Singspiel Stakes. He didn’t quite see out a mile and a quarter in Bahrain but ran a great race back over nine furlongs. All the signs have been that he has come forward for that run and we are applying cheek-pieces just to help with his concentration at the business end of the race.
“Highland Avenue is on a slight recovery mission. He was very free on the front end in the Al Rashidiya and we have applied the hood this time. We are hoping that he can do everything the right way round and he should run a nice race if he can return to the level of some of his three-year-old form.”
