Abu Dhabi stage an interesting card on Sunday evening with the prep races for HH The President Cup the obvious highlights, and the Purebred Arabian version appearing particularly interesting with Group 1 Emirates Championship winners Musharab and Versac Py clashing with the unbeaten Skoop.
All three represent powerful connections with Musharab trained by Majed Al Jahouri, owned by Sheikh Mansour, and the mount of Harry Bentley.
Bentley said: “He will relish this return to 2,200m after two runs this season over 1,600m.
“It is a decent little race, three weeks before the President’s Cup itself, and we should go close.”
Champion Trainer Ernst Oertel saddles two with Skoop, the choice of Champion Jockey Tadhg O’Shea, defending an unbeaten record after three starts.
O’Shea said: “He is an exciting prospect who has done everything asked of him so far. This is a much stiffer test than he has faced and we are looking forward to taking on these proven Group 1 horses.”
The 2012 Group 1 Emirates Championship went the way of the Erwan Charpy-trained Versac Py, making his seasonal reappearance under Dane O’Neill.
He could be the one they all have to beat, though Charpy sounds cautious: “He has plenty of big targets down the line and this is the perfect place to get him back on the track.”
The Thoroughbred equivalent, over 1,400m, has attracted a final field of 10 (after the late defection of course specialist and 2011 President’s Cup winner Jaasoos).
Jaasoos’s stable companion Yaa Wayl looks sure to go close for trainer Dhruba Selvaratnam and stable jockey James Doyle.
Last year’s HH The President Cup winner Alazeyab looks a big danger for trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe but owner Sheikh Hamdan’s retained jockey, Dane O’Neill, chooses to ride stable companion Nawwaar, winner of the National Day Cup, over 1,600m at Abu Dhabi, on his penultimate start.
The 2010 HH The President Cup winner, McCartney is also in the field for Satish Seemar but stable jockey Richard Mulen rides stablemate Montmorency.
