Captain to lead them home at Jebel Ali

Dubai – Racing returns to Jebel Ali for their second meeting of the season and Salem bin Ghadayer, who has made an excellent start to the new campaign, can continue the good work with more winners at the Dubai track.

In Race 4, the topliner at the meeting, 95-rated Captain Vonn Trapp faces only four rivals in the 1600m conditions race and has the assistance of Royston Ffrench, who is close to the milestone of riding 300 winners in the United Arab Emirates.

US import Captain Von Trap made steady progress for Bin Ghadayer last season, producing his best effort when caught in the dying strides by Moqarrar at Meydan on his final appearance in February. Returning after a near nine-month break, he makes plenty of appeal with conditions in his favour and he can outclass his rivals on his Jebel Ali debut.

Race 3 over 1400m sees recent course winner Fraserburgh looks to follow up for the Bin Ghadayer/ Ffrench combination. The veteran showed he hadn’t lost any of his ability and enthusiasm when running out a comfortable winner a fortnight ago, defeating the unexposed Meqdam and ten others.

It’s unlikely a 4kg hike will stop the 10-year-old registering his fourth success from 14 starts in the UAE, despite the step back to a distance he has surprisingly a poor record (0-11).

In Race 2 over 1400m a Maiden Plate for three-year-olds, the most interesting runner is the unraced locally trained Shamikh, a $430,000 purchase at Ocala, in Florida, in April last year. In a race where very few really appeal, he warrants respect for a trainer that looks in better form this season, having endured a miserable time last winter.

Doug Watson, who saddled treble at Jebel Ali’s opening fi xture two weeks ago, is three-handed, with the well-bred Midnight Thunder an eye-catching newcomer in the hands of Sam Hitchcott. By US champion dirt sprinter Midnight Lute, he fetched $200,000 at Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2018 and is bred for the conditions. He won’t need to be above average to play a leading role.

Best Bet: 9 Tailor’s Row (Race 7) Best Value: Maqaadeer [Race 3] Best Swinger: 1 Captain Von Trapp and 3 Eqtiraan (Race 4)

Jackpot [Races 4-7] R24

Leg 1: 1

Leg 2: 1, 2, 3

Leg 3: 2, 7

Leg 4: 4, 5, 8, 9