Sir Maximilian (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB}), the winner of last year's G3 Meydan Sprint and fourth in the 2016 renewal of that event Mar. 5, has been given the green light by trainer Ian Williams for a tilt at the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup card Mar. 26. The 7-year-old gelding was sixth behind Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) in last year's Al Quoz and won a course-and-distance handicap at Meydan Feb. 18.
Williams noted the ground wasn't to his charge's liking last weekend.
“He's come out of the Super [Saturday] sprint well,” said Williams. “He's had a quiet week. The ground was a little bit easy for him that evening and hopefully he'll go back there on fast ground. On his day when things fall right he's a top-class horse and you couldn't totally rule him out when things just fall his way. The margins are so small at that level he needs everything to go right for him and maybe a little bit wrong for the others. If you're not in, you can't win and we'll enjoy being there.”
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