Reynaldothewizard will lead a band of ageing sprinters into battle when he bids to secure a remarkable fourth victory in the Dubawi Stakes at Meydan Racecourse.
The 11-year-old bay colt will line up in his 21st race at Meydan but still has some way to go if he is to eclipse Barbecue Eddie, Doug Watson’s campaigner who appeared 25 times at the UAE’s leading track.
Reynaldothewizard is best fresh and Satish Seemar’s durable sprinter has not run since he was fourth to Muarrab, tonight’s favourite who beat him in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in March.
Other dangers in the 1,200-metre dirt contest include former dual Grade 2-winning US sprinter Wild Dude, who is now trained by Irishman Mick Halford. Watson’s five-year-old Desert Force, who was born only after Reynaldothewizard had ran 14 times, is seeking a hat-trick of wins.
“He is a smashing old horse who loves it at Meydan,” said Bhupat Seemar, assistant trainer to uncle Seemar. “He seems in the same kind of form at home as he was before winning this last year when we thought he would need the run.
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“Obviously he is another year older and on seasonal debut but he will, hopefully, run another big race.”
Thirty-five minutes later Sole Power will become the first horse to race at seven Dubai World Cup Carnivals when he takes on 15 others in the 1,200m turf sprint.
Ed Lynam, Sole Power’s trainer, knows Reynaldothewizard well after his Balmont Mast went down by a quarter of a length to Zabeel Racing’s flag-bearer in the 2013 Dubai Golden Shaheen.
“That Reynaldothewizard is some horse – he is a wonderful old boy,” Lynam said. “You will be amazed what you can get out of these type of horses.
“You’ve only got to look in the Irish barn and we have Sole Power, Gordon Lord Byron, and Jamsie there who have all done it.”
In his heyday Sole Power terrorised the best sprinters over 1,000m and of the 31 Group 1 sprints he contested he won five of them.
Sole Power is now 10 and has not won a race since September 2015. By Lynam’s own admission, retirement may well beckon on his return to Ireland after World Cup night in March.
“He looked like he was going to put in a big run in the July Cup at Newmarket [England] but was blocked at crucial times and since then you would have to say his form is 10lbs below his best,” Lynam said.
“He is training very well and is happy here and we will run him a couple of times here and then take him home.”
Sole Power is joined in the Jebel Ali Port Handicap by fellow 10 year olds Roicead and Roi De Vitesse, while Jamsie, Fityaan, Spirit Quartz and Gordon Lord Byron are a year younger.
Gordon Lord Byron is like a prodigal son returning to Dubai.
When Gordon Lord Byron last raced here in 2013 there was a Tapeta surface on the main track.
Much has passed under the bridge since the Irish raider finished seventh behind Reynaldothewizard in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, but trainer Tom Hogan is hopeful of his charge performs better.
This is Gordon Lord Byron’s first foray outside Europe since he finished ninth to Able Friend in Hong Kong in March 2015 and his constitution is seemingly no longer what it was.
He experienced a minor hiccup on arrival in Dubai and it forced him to be scratched from last week’s opening meeting.
“The older you get you carry a bit extra, just like me, but he is blowing well,” trainer Hogan said.
“He is nine now, but I don’t think he can count so I expect him to be his usual self.
“He is a bit cuter than he used to be.”
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Five to watch
Harry Redknapp
The former England football manager will be at Meydan as he is a part-owner of Moviesta, who tries dirt for the first time in the Dubawi Stakes. Redknapp was at morning track work at 6.30am yesterday to watch the son of Hard Spun, who last ran at Meydan finishing 14th of 15 in the 2015 Meydan Sprint.
Pistol
Swedish raider Pistol lines up in the 1,600-metre handicap at 8.15pm to become trainer Patrick Wahl’s first runner in the UAE. Pistol also becomes the first horse to advertise the form of Sweden’s newest racecourse, Bro Park, which opened in June. Four of Pistol’s five wins have come on dirt. Wahl also runs Arabda in the following race.
Wildcat Red
It is not often that Meydan is graced by a horse that ran in the Kentucky Derby so early in the season, but Wildcat Red is exactly that. Formerly trained by Jose Garoffalo, the six-year-old American-bred entry finished 30 lengths off California Chrome in the 2014 Run For The Roses. Since then he has showed glimmers of top-class form and has joined UAE champion trainer Doug Watson and runs in the dirt handicap over 1,600m at 8.15pm.
David Elsworth
David Elsworth has his first runner at Meydan when Sea Of Flames runs against Wildcat Red at 8.15pm. The 77-year-old trainer used to visit Dubai when Nad Al Sheba was still standing and his last winner in Dubai was Gower Song in the 2008 Dubai City Of Gold. With the news coming out of England yesterday that Kempton racecourse is set to be demolished in 2021 a penny for the thoughts from the trainer of Desert Orchid, who won four King George VI Chases at the racecourse to the west of London.
Tahanee
Trainer Mike de Kock conceded last week that bringing horses over from South America was an inexact science. He saddled Saltarin Dubai to be sixth in the 1,900m handicap last week, but Lindo Amor ran well to finish third in the Al Maktoum Challenge on his first start since May. Tahanee, a filly by Stormy Atlantic, is a Grade 3 winner in Argentina and runs in the 1,600m turf handicap at 8.50pm.
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