Dubai World Cup Carnival: Five horses to watch at Meydan on Thursday

Jockey Dane O'Neill riding AF MathMoon (No 14) wins the Race1 Dubai Kahayla Classic during the Dubai World Cup at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 26, 2016. Satish Kumar / The National

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting at Meydan here is a look at five horses to look out for:

AF Mathmoon

It has been a slow process to get the Dubai Kahayla Classic winner back in to top gear this season but Mussabbeh Al Mheiri finally got the right tune out of the six-year-old on the opening night of the Carnival last month. AF Mathmoon strode over eight lengths clear to triumph in some style. AF Mathmoon looks far too good for his rivals in the opening race on Thursday and should put in a sparkling performance ahead of his World Cup night defence.

Mizbah

Whatever Mizbah achieves in the 2,000m handicap at 7.40pm he will do it by pinging out of the gates, pinning his ears back and motoring for as long as he can under Sam Hitchcott. Mizbah put up one of the performances of this year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival when he dominated a decent field by nearly eight lengths. The dirt was riding very fast on the Carnival’s opening night, which contributed to Mizbah lowering the track record – set by Godolphin’s Frosted no less last season. Judging by previous form it was a run too good to be true – it makes his performance on Thursday so intriguing.

Triple Nine

The South Koreans have been a welcome addition to the Dubai World Cup Carnival and Triple Nine is the best horse of the four that trainer Kim Young-kwan brought over for this campaign. Main Stay has already provided a historic victory for his country, but Triple Nine has a tide of optimism behind him that threatens to carry him all the way to the World Cup itself.

Nashmiah

Nicholas Bachalard has yet to have a winner at Meydan from three horses sent over from Saudi Arabia, but if there is one horse who can topple Saeed bin Suroor’s Really Special it might be Nashmiah. It is unlikely that Saudi Arabian form is stronger than anything else on offer in the UAE 1,000 Guineas, but the filly brings a whole new set of formlines to the table and finished second in a Saudi Arabian Group 1 last month and looks smart.

Brex Drago

Italian racing is in a parlous state, a fact underlined last week when three of their Group 1 races were downgraded to Group 2 level. Brex Drago used to be trained by Stephano Botti in Italy, but the five year old has had to be transferred to his brother, Marco, in Newmarket due to lack of opportunities and delayed prize-money payments. Brex Drago won four Listed races in Italy during the past two seasons, and will appreciate the drop back in distance from 2,000m to 1,800m from when he was third last month on his UAE debut. An Italian win would be something to write home about.

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