Furia Cruzada leading the carnival atmosphere at Meydan
With the Dubai World Cup Carnival two weeks away, local trainers have decided to let their carnival prospects out for a spin in the year-end meeting at Meydan Racecourse today.
Among them is Furia Cruzada, the Erwan Charpy-trained mare who finished seventh in the Dubai World Cup. She is making her reappearance in the Listed fifth race run over the Dubai World Cup distance of 2,000 metres.
It indeed feels like a carnival race given that eight of the nine runners today contested in the carnival meetings last season, including Musawaat and Second Summer, both of whom ran in the Godolphin Mile. Furia Cruzada had a busy first season in Dubai after winning the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in her first local start in February 2017.
She ran twice more in the carnival before being flown out for a European campaign that summer, and on her return to Dubai had four starts including in the season-ending Dubai World Cup.
This time she starts fresh, having spent the summer in Dubai, and will be ridden by Antonio Fresu, who has been onboard for six of her seven local starts.
Musawaat seems to be the pick of the challenge. The Fawzi Nass-trained colt was runner-up three times before finishing a creditable fourth in the Godolphin Mile in his last start.
Second Summer was the 2017 winner of the Godolphin Mile, but finished behind Musawaat in the 2018 race. He runs well when fresh and is respected under Fernando Jara.
Doug Watson, the UAE champion trainer, is double-handed in the race with Cosmo Charlie and Etijaah.
Cosmo Charlie was an impressive winner from his stable companion a month ago and they both can go close with the benefits of those runs.
The seven-race card kicks off with the Listed Madjani Stakes for Purebred Arabians, followed by the six races for the thoroughbreds, which include the Dubai Creek Mile – the first of the two Listed prizes.
Musabah Al Muhairi’s Zainhom appears to be the form horse with three runs under his belt, including a promising fourth in his last start in the Listed Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup in Abu Dhabi.
The opener for Arabians looks like a three-way tie between Ali Rashid Al Raihe’s Zahir, Jean de Roualle’s Ziyadd and Eric Lemartinel’s RB Torch, winner of the Group 3 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup.