LONDON // Sole Power will make his first start in his homeland for almost four years when he lines up in the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh in Ireland on Saturday.
The eight-year-old sprinter showed he was as good as ever in March when he won the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan, and he could face Dubai World Cup Carnival runners Jamsie, from the David Marnane stable, and Russian Soul, who will be saddled by Michael Halford.
Other runners of note are fellow globe-trotter Gordon Lord Byron, who last struck at the top level in the George Ryder Stakes in Australia last March, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Mustajeeb, who has not won in two subsequent starts since winning the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot last season.
Sole Power ran the fastest final 300 metres in Dubai, but he was able to do so because he was drawn close to last year’s Al Quoz winner Amber Sky, who gave him a beautiful tow into the 1,000-metre race.
Conditions at the Curragh, where the going along the 1,200m course is on the soft side of good, could not be more different.
“If Sole Power gets certain conditions, he is very, very good,” trainer Edward Lynam said from his base in County Meath. “He needs a fast-run race, a good draw and decent ground.
“This race is chalk and cheese to anything he has seen at Royal Ascot or in Dubai. They are likely to go only an OK gallop and then quicken from halfway.”
Sole Power was also entered in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock tomorrow in which Charlie Appleby’s Pretend, who was campaigned in the Godolphin blue in Britain during the winter, heads the entries.
Richard Hughes is booked to ride Ivawood in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on the same card, however, and Lynam said it would be better to prepare for next month’s assignment in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot with Sole Power’s regular partner in the saddle.
“It is great to have him back on home soil, and it is important that Richard is available,” Lynam said.
“We gave him a few easy weeks after Dubai and then got him back into routine training. He will be ready, but this is very much a prep for Royal Ascot.”
Lady Of Dubai put herself firmly in the reckoning for challenging at the English Oaks with a commanding performance in the Bibendum Height Of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse yesterday.
Owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and ridden by Adam Kirby, the daughter of Dubawi won the Listed by three-and-a-quarter lengths from David Simcock’s Encore l’Amour.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @NatSportUAE
