G1 – 2000m – Dirt
Horse Racing
Season
Al Maktoum Challenge R3 – Form Comments
| 1 | Logrado | Competed at the highest level when trained in Argentina, both on dirt and turf. Last May he won one of their most significant G1 dirt events – over this distance at Palermo – and his rating suggests he could be competitive on this Meydan debut. |
| 2 | Thunder Snow | If ratings prove correct, this terrific horse will be tough to beat here. A regular G1 performer on turf and dirt, and gaining a runaway success in last year’s Dubai World Cup – admittedly with a lovely trip up front, having previously finished second in this. Likely to again try and put his rivals to the sword from the front. |
| 3 | New Trails | Formerly trained in France but he has adapted really well to Meydan, twice winning handicaps. Most recently he moved up to G2 level where he only found the brilliant North America too strong over 1900m. This improving and lightly raced gelding tends to sit off the speed. |
| 4 | Gronkowski | A horse who has always had a reputation for brilliant homework, he is also pretty smart on the track, winning four consecutive times when trained in the UK and most significantly finishing runner-up in the G1 Belmont Stakes over 2400m last year. However he’ll need to be right at the top of his game for the Meydan debut. |
| 5 | Montsarrat | Always travelling well close to the pace, he led about 300m out to gain a comfortable win in a Listed event over a similar trip to this at neighbouring Jebel Ali last month. So in good form, but probably not up to this level and was well behind in this race last year. |
| 6 | Dolkong | Six times a winner in South Korea at up to this distance. Getting the hang of things at Meydan now and improved to win a Listed handicap by 9.5 lengths on dirt here a week ago, prompting some celebratory gestures from today’s rider Olivier Doleuze. In deeper waters here, but he looks pretty smart. |
| 7 | Cosmo Charlie | Described as a ‘funny little horse’ by today’s rider but very talented when allowed to grab an early lead as he did when scoring over this course and distance last December. However he’s unlikely to have things easy up front here, and was well beaten in this race last year. |
| 8 | Nordic Lights | From Meydan’s most successful stable, this lightly-raced gelding was an expensive two-year-old purchase who switches from turf to dirt – though he did win on Lingfield’s all-weather surface on his debut a year ago. Also gained a front-running win in a handicap here last month. |
| 9 | Capezzano | His four career wins have all come at Meydan and in great form at the moment – winning two 1600m handicaps on his last two starts. Most recently he soon led to gain a runaway success, a clear career best. Tactically versatile which may be useful here as there is a lot of gate speed in this G1 race. |
| 10 | Furia Cruzada | Frankie Dettori is back on board having partnered her earlier in her career when UK trained. However she looks an unlikely winner, sitting on a losing run of over two years. However she did run third in this race last year only unable to cope with star performers North America and Thunder Snow. |
Others
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