Super Thursday in Dubai

Today is Super Thursday at Nad al Sheba, the penultimate day of the Dubai Racing Carnival and the big prep day for the Dubai World Cup card in just over 3 weeks time. An extremely interesting card is on offer, including 3 Group Two and 2 Group Three races, all trials for the big day itself. From the German point of view, the Dubai City of Gold- Swain- over 2400 metres at 18.45 CET is the most interesting event, with Quijano (Peter Schiergen/ Andrasch Starke) attempting to repeat his 2007 win in this event. However it is a very tough race with a maximum field (as in most of the other races today) of 16 runners. Most dangerous of many threats is probably Luca Cumani´s Purple Moon (Jamie Spencer), just touched off last time in the Hong Kong Vase.

The Jebel Hatta- Daaher over 9 furlongs on turf at 19.45 and the al Maktoum Challenge round three - Invasor- over 2000 metres on dirt at 19.15 are also Group Two and major trials for the Duty Free and World Cup respectively. In the former event, Japanese mare Vodka (Katsuhiko Sumii/ Yukata Take) could be the star, although the strong South African challenge, three runners trained by Mike de Kock and two by Herman Brown, should not be underestimated. Mike de Kock also has a strong hand in the dirt race with Asiatic Boy (Johnny Miurtagh) and Art of War (Kevin Shea) under orders, but the one to beat here is Godolphin´s Kirklees (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori). The 6 furlongs race on dirt at 17.45 sees two of the world´s top sprinters in opposition - Big City Man, trained in Saudi Arabia by Jerry Barton and impressive winner of his last 5 races, and Godolphin´s Diabolical, who won this last year and last time out was runner-up in the Breeders Cup Sprint. Ex-German Echoes Rock (Christin Erichsen/ Frankie Dettori) makes his dirt debut in the mile race at 18.15 but will find Mike de Kock´s pair Lucky Find (Kevin Shea) and Honour Devil (Johnny Murtagh) tough to beat.

Betting forecast:
2. Race: Medici - Muy Ponderado - Jose Adan
3. Race: City Style - Liberation - Naval Officer
4. Race: Diabolical - Big City Man - Gayego
5. Race: Honour Devil - Lucky Find - Echoes Rock
6. Race: Purple Moon - Quijano - Mourilyan
7. Race: Asiatic Boy - Kirklees - Happy Boy
8. Race: Vodka - Jay Peg - Balius