Group 2 winner Heavy Metal, Group 3 winners Kimbear and Secret Ambition, and Listed winners Yulong Warrior and Rodaini will headline the action at Meydan on Thursday night.
Course and distance specialist Heavy Metal, whose eight Meydan dirt victories include seven at this 1600m trip, won the 2018 renewals of both the Al Maktoum Challenge R1 (G2) and Godolphin Mile.
Now a nine-year-old, that Godolphin Mile victory remains his latest victory after four runs last season, culminating with a close second in a Godolphin Mile defence attempt to Coal Front.
Trained by Salem bin Ghadayer for HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Heavy Metal is seeking to become the second dual Dubai Creek Mile winner after Surfer, who won the inaugural event in 2013 and followed up 12 months later.
“Obviously, we know conditions suit him and he is ready for a race as he has been going well at home,” Bin Ghadayer said. “He has the widest draw, but it is only a small field, so hopefully he can break well and get into a good early position.”
Two places behind Bin Ghadayer’s charge in the 2019 Godolphin Mile was Kimbear, one of two in this race for Doug Watson.
The choice of Pat Dobbs, the five-year-old Temple City entire has two 1600m Meydan victories to his name, most recently the Burj Nahaar (G3) on Super Saturday in 2018.
Sam Hitchcott rides stable companion Thegreatcollection, a dual course and distance winner and one of three runners in the field who have the benefit of a run this season.
The still-improving type finished fourth under a heavy imposition over this trip and appears primed for a top effort.
Secret Ambition – who chased home Kimbear in the aforementioned 2018 Burj Nahaar (G3) – and Yulong Warrior both represent Satish Seemar with Tadhg O’Shea on the former and Zabeel’s first rider Richard Mullen preferring the latter.
One place behind Kimbear in the 2019 Godolphin Mile (G2), Secret Ambition is owned by Nasir Askar, whose horses have been in top form this season.
The son of Exceed and Excel beat Thegreatcollection in a course and distance handicap in January 2018 and returned to the winner’s enclosure in the Jebel Ali Mile (G3) one year later.
Back with Seemar after a spell in the US with Doug O’Neill, which included one minor stakes victory, Yulong Warrior won twice at Meydan in 2018 as a 3-year-old, highlighted by his Super Saturday success in the 1900m Al Bastakiya (Listed).
The fixture is the final one at Meydan in 2019 with the next one on January 2 being the opening meeting of the 2020 Dubai World Cup Carnival.
First post is 6:30 p.m. The featured Dubai Creek Mile goes as Race 5 at 8:50 p.m
