Over the next nine Thursdays at Meydan, the Dubai World Cup Carnival will lay the foundation for Super Saturday (Mar. 5) and the Dubai World Cup itself, with the world's richest race day taking place on Mar. 26 and featuring five Group 1 contests alongside three Group 2 races.
The first major test of this year's Carnival comes in today's $250,000 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 Presented by Longines Dolce Vita Collection. Some familiar names are to the fore once again with the first four home in 2015–Surfer (Distorted Humor), Frankyfourfingers (Fr) (Sunday Break {JPN}), Haatheq (Seeking The Gold) and Gold City (Ire) (Pivotal {GB})-all reopposing.
The Satish Seemar-trained 7-year-old Surfer, who also won the listed Dubai Creek Mile in December 2014, is back with his regular partner Richard Mullen having been absent from the track since Dubai World Cup night, when he finished down the field in the G2 Godolphin Mile.
Frankyfourfingers has also not been seen since finishing fifth, 2¼ lengths behind Tamarkuz (Speightstown) in the Godolphin Mile, and he built on last year's runner-up finish in this race by beating subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Prince Bishop (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) by a head in the second round of the Al Maktoum Challenge.
Le Bernardin (Bernardini) has three previous Meydan victories to his credit from nine appearances in Dubai and he comes into the race off the back of a 5½-length trouncing of Gold City in the most recent renewal of the listed Dubai Creek Mile on Dec. 17. Layl (Street Cry {Ire}) was another three lengths back in third.
Another posting his first outing since last year's Godolphin Mile is Zayat Stables' multiple graded stakes winner Prayer For Relief (Jump Start), who bids to enhance Mike de Kock's good recent run in the Gulf following Tannaaf (Ire)'s (High Chaparral {Ire}) dead-heat with Rogue Runner (Ger) (King's Best) in the $500,000 Qatar Derby on Jan. 30.
Michael Appleby provides the sole British challenger for the opening Group contest–his seven-time winner Pearl Nation (Speightstown) being one of three runners for the Nottinghamshire-based trainer on today's card along with Demora (GB) (Deportivo {GB}) and Bancnuanaheireann (Ire) (Chevalier {Ire}). The 7-year-old bounced back from a seven- month lay-off when a close-up fifth on Southwell's fibresand on Dec. 12.
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