Dubai Racing Carnival and the dawn of a new era

Today marks the start of the Dubai Racing Carnival, which runs until March and is followed by Dubai World Cup day on March 27th, and it is no exaggeration to describe it as the dawn of a new era. For the old racecourse at Nad Al Sheba has been demolished and the huge and luxurious (and very expensive) new racecourse nearby at Meydan has risen in its stead.

Despite the well-documented financial problems in Dubai, the track has been completed on time and at a dress rehearsal last received glowing reports from the jockeys taking part. Cynics might consider that these jockeys, most of them on the Maktoum payroll, would hardly utter a word of public criticism, but the fact is that this is a great achievement and the Carnival this year promises to be better than ever.

Today´s card starts with a race for Arab-breds, followed by 7 races, all highly competitive, for thoroughbreds. Main event is the Group Three mile race at 19.20 CET, the first round of the Al Maktoum Challenge. This is an exceptionally strong field, with Godolphin runnng two of the favourites- last year´s winner My Indy (Ted Durcan) and Midshipman (Frankie Dettori), and also includes the last two winners of Germany´s top mile race Lovelace (Mark Johnston/ Richard Hills) and Premio Loco (Chris Wall/ George Baker). Saeed bin Suroor usually gets off to a good start here and Midshipman is therefore our selection.

From the German point of view, the 9 1/2 furlongs handicap at 16.20 could be the most interesting race, as it sees a German contender at the start - Takhir (Peter Schirgen/ Andrasch Starke). He seems well-handicapped and is probably racing over his ideal distance, but is drawn on the wide outside. Nobody knows yet how the track will ride, but a wide draw is not normally an advantage.

There is no betting in Dubai and no tote odds, but British bookmakers will be betting on these races and bets will normally be settled at British industry SPs.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Santhal - No Risk Al Maury - Vite Royale
2. Race: Absolute Music - Talenta - Silver Grey
3. Race: Beauchamp Xerxes - Takhir - Bennie Blue
4. Race: Lion Sands - Princess Taylor - Bab Al Salam
5. Race: Sir Gerry - Rileyskeepingfaith - Good Control
6. Race: Sopranist - Topclas - With Interest
7. Race: My Indy - Premio Loco - Midshipman
8. Race: Mutheeb - Snow Runner - Leahurst