Most of us are pre-occupied with the run up to the Cheltenham festival at the moment but Sheikh Mohammed is already assessing his classic hopes for the new flat season. The brilliant success of Local Time in the UAE 1000 Guineas is going to be hard to top in the colt’s equivalent on Thursday but a decent field has been assembled.
South African trainer Mike de Kock has dominated this race in previous seasons and is double-handed as he goes for a sixth victory. His colts finished first and second in the trial race last month with Mubtaahij storming five lengths clear of Ajwad.
De Kock has revealed that jockey Christophe Soumillon has chosen to ride Ajwad in preference here with Pat Dobbs aboard Mubtaahij. I have watched the race closely and, try as I might, cannot find any reason why Mubtaahij won’t beat Ajwad again on Thursday. Both colts broke well and travelled nicely at the head of the field before Mubtaahij stretched clear in the straight.
If there was an unlucky horse it was Godolphin’s Maftool who was slowly away and ran on steadily to finish third. The betting suggests that he will make a race of it this time but he still needs to improve. He did win a Group 3 at Newmarket in September but it wasn’t a particularly strong race and he appeared to have his limitations exposed in the Dewhurst. He was no match for Belardo that day, finishing fifth of the six runner field. I also felt that Maftool tended to hang fire a little in the closing stages, although that may have been due to his exertions in trying to make up the lost ground.
The Godolphin colt finished second to Richard Hannon’s Burnt Sugar over six furlongs at Kempton prior to his Newmarket win. The winner is yet to win beyond that distance and Maftool should have his measure. Godolphin are also represented by Zephuros who finished fourth in the trial without ever really threatening. He ran well enough when fifth to Mastermind at the last meeting here but it would be a surprise if he were to prove good enough.
Padlock was even further back in sixth place in the trial with Unorthodox finishing eighth. Mubtaahij can show himself to be a smart colt and land a sixth UAE 2000 Guineas for his trainer.
Mubtaahij 3.55 Meydan @7-4 Betfair
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