Sheema Classic at 17.40 CET

From the German point of view, this is the most interesting race of the meeting, with Peter Schiergen´s Quijano (Andrasch Starke) tackling this race for the third tine, having finished 7th in 2007 and 4th last year. He is reported to be in excellent form, but will need to be as he meets several old adversaries, such as Youmzain (Mick Channon/ Richard Hills), who has finished in front of him twice here, and whose connections seem very optimistic, as well as Doctor Dino (Richard Gibson/ Olivier Peslier), who was in front of him last year and also beat him in Hong Kong in 2007. Doctor Dino repeated that Hong Kong success 3 months ago, this time by inches from Purple Moon (Luca Cumani/ Jamie Spencer), while Spanish Moon (Sir Michael Sztoute/ Ryan Moore) is another Newmarket contender with chances. Quijano finished an excellent runner-up in the main trial to the filly Front House (Kevin Shea), one of four Mike de Kock runners, who is now slightly worse off at the weights but has a much better draw and may try to make the running. The lack of early pace could be a problem here, and both Youmzain, twice runnre-up in the Arc, and Quijano need a strongly-run race. King of Rome (de Kock/ Johnny Murtagh) was a close third in the City of Gold and is also expected to figure, while Eastern Anthem (Mubarak bin Shayfa/ Ahmed Ajtebi), out of German-bred classic winner Kazzia, is much improved and can also play a leading role. Youmzain is possibly the form choice, but this is a very open race and Quijano certainly has a good chance of finishing in the frame if he gets the breaks.

Betting forecast:
6. Race: Youmzain - Purple Moon - Doctor Dino