Meydan Previews For Racing on 4 February 2010
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Meydan Dubai Betting Tips
Thursday 4 February 2010 represents the 2nd meeting set down for the new race track purpose built in Dubai to host the Dubai World Cup from 2010 onwards called Meydan. We will be highlighting 5 selected races on this card, the quality of bets looks rather strong. Of particular interest to Australian followers is Race 3 with the engagement of the regally bred Redoute’s Choice South African G1 winner Musir who is on trial for the UAE 2000 Guineas and looks hard to beat.
Race times listed in brackets after each race number are UK times.
Meydan R1 (14:35) – Shapes as a race with a few seen chances on paper and as per usual hard to line a lot of them up with form references coming from various racing centres. We have decided to lean towards SWIFT GIFT on top who won a high class Heritage Handicap at Ascot in May 09 over 7f defeating Nezami and Dhaular Dhar 1.7*1.3l in a large 27 horse field, form refs out of that race suggest Swift Gift is potentially a Group class performer so it is in well weighted, the other potential high class runner that can’t be ignored is the Brazilian import AL ARAB who comes into this in fine form off the back of a Listed win at Cidade Jardim in Brazil last start, scored impressively over the mile that day 2.7*3.7l and that franked its high class Group 3 win at the end of December 08 when it knocked off two former Group 1 winners in the form of Quick Road and Biologo. Also minor claims exist around Skysurfers, Uncle Tom and Ocean’s Minstrel but preference is for the first two mentioned and they should be fighting it out with the class edge in their favour.
Betting Advice – Meydan Race 1
No13 Swift Gift (1) – 1 unit win
No8 Al Arab (1) – 1 unit win
Meydan R2 (15:10) – not the highest quality raced and only a few of these realistically make appeal from a class point of view and one of them on exposed class stands out over the others, that is GALLAGHER, if the real Gallagher shows up here he will beat this lot hands down, that fact that Meehan has engaged leading UK hoop Jamie Spencer for this ride gives us good confidence the horse is ready to fire 1st up from the 5 month lay off, as a juvenile in 08 he ran Lord Shanakill to a half length in the Mill Reef stakes over 6f at Group 2 level, he hit the line hard that day making up strong ground from off the pace suggesting this 7f trip may be his best go, Lord Shanakill franked that form when he was nosed out by Intense Focus next start over 7f in the Group 1 Dewhurst and then he trained on as a 3yo finishing 1.7l 3rd to Mastercraftsman in the Group 1 St James Palce Stakes and also won at Group 1 level in France in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly, Gallagher’s best effort of his 3yo campaign last season was a deceivingly strong win over Plum Pudding at Newbury over the 7f trip by wide margins, the beaten brigade was well above the advertised class of that race suggesting he still retained his Group level ability, the other horses engaged here are simply not Group class horses to the level of Gallagher, he has them covered.
Betting Advice – Meydan Race 2
No2 Gallagher (2) – 3 units win
Meydan R3 (15:45) – a high class field of “3yo’s” greets us here on trial for the UAE 2000 Guineas, we must remember that the Southern Hemisphere bred horses from Australia, Brazil and Argentina are actually 4yo’s by Southern Hemisphere standards but under the handicap conditions of this race it is basically WFA with penalties, Mick De Kock has a phenomenal record in Dubai and he saddles up an impeccably bred Australian colt in the form of MUSIR here who is by Redoute’s Choice out of the Encosta De Lago mare Dizzy De Lago who herself was a potential blacktype winner after placing in stakes company in Australian on debut when 2nd to Crystal Wit, Dizzy De Lago only raced 3 times before her career was cut short, Musir is a G1 winner in South Africa taking out the high class form race The Golden Horseshoe at Greyville over 8f last start by a widening 3l margin and the form through the beaten brigade suggest it was a Group 1 win of the highest merit, he is clearly the one to beat and stable confidence is high, the other Southern Hemisphere horse that may figure is the well bred type now trained by Saeed Bin Suroor from Argentina in the form of PERCUSIONIST who is by Southern Halo out of the Woodman mare Breadcrumb who was unraced, Percusionist was very impressive winning by 7l over 6f at Palermo in Argentina on debut and the form out of that race looks high class Group quality for the area, he should be able to transform it to this level required to be highly competitive, forget the European breds in this, they are not the class of these 2 previously mentioned, Musir and Percusionist will fight this out and both are serious UAE 2000 Guineas contenders.
Betting Advice – Meydan Race 3
No1 Musir (2) – 3 units win
No8 Percusionist (1) – 2 units win
Meydan R6 (17:40) – This is a Group 3 contest over 9f and a few high class types are engaged here that are well above the advertised Group 3 class of this race, clearly the best of them looks to be CROWDED HOUSE from the Meehan / Spencer combination again, he has been off the scene since July 09 when he was well beaten 6th of 12 behind Sea The Stars over 12f at Ascot, he only started twice as a 3yo last season before going amiss so we prefer to go back to his high class 2yo form as a point of reference including his 3.5l win in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster over 8f, once clear that day 2f out he put paid to the large 15 horse field in a twinkling and hit the line strongly, he is by Rainbow Quest out of a Woodman mare so 9f to 10f looks to be his optimum trip, Spencer was also onboard that day so he knows the horse well, the best of the rest looks to be between Oiseau De Feu, Alexandros and Frozen Fire who resumes for the astute De Kock yard but Crowded House looks to have their measure as a proven high class G1 winner.
Betting Advice – Meydan R6
No5 Crowded House (1) – 2 units win
Meydan R7 (18:15) – the overall quality of this field in terms of Group quality horses is not that great but the German bred horse TITUREL is lightly raced and offers very good scope for further improvement here and gets the services of leading hoop K Fallon, he is by Dr Fong out of the Acetango mare Tucana and the 2nd dam is by Trempolino so it has enough stamina in its pedigree to suggest it will stay the 14f trip here, last start having only its 4th start it was sent out a short priced favorite in a Group 3 contest at Hoppegarten in German and didnt come on at the business end and was subsequently put away and spelled after that run, obviously it had excuses, it won 3 on end prior to that and at its 3rd career start scored by a widening 5l margin at Baden Baden defeating a well performed Galileo mare who came out and won a strong Listed race with ease 2 starts later franking the form, the start prior Titurel was sent to Chantilly in France where it also won impressively knocking off Puchet 2nd who at its previous 3 starts finished 2nd at Group 1 level each start in Argentina at Palermo and San Isidoro, 3rd home in that same race behind Titurel was the smart Daressalam who the start prior was beaten the same 2l margin in Group 2 company in Germany suggesting once again that Titurel is Group 2 level as a minimum with scope for improvement in German racing, that is strong enough to win this contest that is devoid of real Group racing depth of horse flesh.
Betting Advice – Meydan Race 7
No4 Titurel (1) – 2 units win
