1

Nine Below Zero

Ran a terrific race when a close second in this last year, admittedly with an easy trip. He hasn’t managed to do as well since however and will need a serious revival if he is to strike here.

2

Fight On

Close to the pace, he looked like winning on his Meydan debut in January but faded late and two subsequent runs from the US-trained horse have also been disappointing.

3

Alfredo Arcano

Irish-trained, he came close to winning a handicap on his first Meydan start last year, but finished last on his Meydan return this January. He had previously won a 1200m Dundalk handicap under a big weight.
  

4

Lake Volta

Best known as a turf horse in the UK, winning five times but 0-7 on all-weather surfaces. He raced 17 times in the UK last year and starts his career in the UAE following a break.

5

Switzerland

Has G3 winning form over this trip when trained in the USA. However he did not live up to expectations at Meydan last year, and was 13.3L behind Bochart on last month’s return.

6

I Kirk

Very hard to beat over this sort of trip in Sweden and showed brilliant gate speed to win on his Meydan debut in 2019. Also led in a G3 here in January but couldn’t maintain the gallop then.

7

Bochart

On recent form, and ratings, he looks the one to beat here even if he might find it harder to steal an early lead from this gate than he has when thumping his rivals in two Meydan handicaps over this trip this year.

8

Lavaspin

Appears one of the lesser fancied of his trainer’s five declared runners in this and, though he endured a wide trip, he was hammered by stable mate Bochart in a handicap here last month. He’s also worse off at the weights with that intended rival this time.

9

Cenotaph

Has won after a break before so the absence might not be an issue, and his winning form in the UK came on all-weather surfaces. Brett Doyle- who is doing well at Meydan this year- rides him for the first time.

10

Wafy

Lightly raced in the UK, winning once. However he looked to have adapted well to the UAE, gaining an impressive front-running victory at Jebel Ali recently.

11

Alkaraama

His three wins in the UK were all at this 1200m on the all-weather. Dropping down to 1000m he showed a lot of speed to win a local Listed race at Jebel Ali recently.

12

Rodaini

Did win a maiden over this trip at the start of his career but almost exclusively competes over further nowadays. Probably won’t have enough pace.

13

Ibn Malik

Tough, he also had a wide gate to contend with when a good runner-up in a G3 here in January, again doing well in a G3 last time especially as he had to face a lot of kickback.

14

Leading Spirit

Probably posted a career best when outspeeding his rivals over 1000m at Jebel Ali two starts back. Not so effective there last time.

Reserve

15

Trickbag

A rare winner and none of his three Meydan starts this year suggest he’s got much hope.