Two previous winners of the Group 1 Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night clash in the 1200m Listed Dubawi Stakes on the dirt and old adversaries, Reynaldothewizard and Krypton Factor are making their seasonal debuts.
Trained by Satish Seemar, 10-year-old Reynaldothewizard made a winning return in this same race last year before following up in the Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint. Sadly he missed the rest of the season so this will be his first outing since February.
He will again be ridden by Richard Mullen, who said: “Obviously he has been off a fair while and is certainly approaching the veteran stage. He seems in great form at home and has been bucking and kicking but it is hard to gauge his work because he never shows much in the mornings.
“He is the old boy at the party so to speak and it will be interesting to see how he fares against the likes of Muarrab.”
Muarrab was actually second in this last year, suffering his only defeat in his nine most recent outings. Owned by Sheikh Hamdan and trained by Musabah Al Muhairi, Muarrab won last year’s Listed Jebel Ali Sprint and his two wins this year include the Listed Garhoud Sprint, over Thursday’s course and distance.
Paul Hanagan rides, and said: “He has just gone from strength to strength and hopefully will go very close.”
The aforementioned Krypton Factor, winner of the 2012 Golden Shaheen, chased home Reynaldothewizard in last year’s Al Shindagha Sprint. He represents Bahrain and is owned and trained by Fawzi Nass. The late defection of Godolphin’s Carry On Deryck takes a bit of gloss from the field in the Listed Singspiel Stakes, on the turf over 1800m, but it looks an open race nonetheless.
Dhruba Selvaratnam saddles the talented and versatile Farraaj, having his third start for the yard. He looked badly in need of his comeback, a comment that also applies to Doug Watson’s representative Limario.
However, they may struggle to deny Mike de Kock a third win in a race only introduced in 2012. He relies on Mujaarib, the mount of Hanagan. As you would expect, Godolphin look to hold strong hands in both the Classic trials.
In the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial, won last year by subsequent UAE Derby victor Mubtaahij, Saeed bin Suroor saddles Steady Pace, while fellow Godolphin handler, Charlie Appleby, relies on Rouleau.
The pair actually clashed in last year’s Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket when Bin Suroor’s charge was third, two places in front of Rouleau who actually has to give him weight on this occasion.
Meanwhile, Bin Suroor won the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial with Local Time last year and she went on to win both the Guineas and UAE Oaks. The trainer saddles both Promising Run and Pure Diamond with stable jockey, James Doyle, on the former. However, the De Kock-trained Almashooqa and Polar River, to be saddled by Watson, look live threats.
Good luck to the old boys Reynaldothewizard and Krypton Factor, my favourite sprinters under the hands of @rpmullen1 and @freddytylicki
— Shamela Hanley (@simmy_hanley) January 14, 2016