Meydan Thursday Preview - 22/01/21

The first race of the day from Meydan is the seven furlong contest on the dirt and the horse that takes the eye for us is the Doug Watson trained Rio Angie.

The five year old for owner Hamid Radan is very lightly raced for her age only being seen four times in her career and all those runs have come at Meydan on the dirt.

Having made her debut in November 2019 and getting off the mark at the first time of asking, she ran twice more that season finishing third and fourth respectably.

Having had a break she made her first appearance of the winter over course and distance and landed a seven runner event by close to nine lengths.

Although the handicapper has give her a hefty penalty for that she looks a very progressive filly that loves racing at this track and has every chance if coming on again for her latest win.

We are siding with a familiar name to British flat racing fans in the next with the ex Mark Johnston trained Communique looking to steal the show in the 1m4f Listed Handicap.

The six year old was a superb yardstick for the Scottish trainer and has now permanently moved over to Dubai and is now trained locally.

In the past this horse has been seen frequently, but has wins on his roster like the Group Two Princes Of Wales's Tattersalls Stakes and the Group Two Roaring Lion Jockey Club Stakes.

Having had a below par season in Britain last term the move over to Meydan may revitalise him and off top weight will need a big performance to go close and we think he can produce that.

The first of the superb big events on the card comes in this event with the Group Three Dubawi Stakes over six furlongs and Waady for Doug Watson looks a big player.

The nine year old for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum loves racing at Meydan seeing all of his last seven outings come at the track.

He ended last term in Dubai in stellar form landing back to back turf sprint events, including the Group Two Meydan Sprint over five furlongs.

The gelding made his seasonal return in December on the dirt in a Listed event and finished a nice fourth and having now blown away the cobwebs he should be bang on it come Thursday.

The Group Two Singspiel Stakes is one of the feature races on the Meydan card and in the 1m1f contest that sees a superb field head to post, we are going with the British raider Lord Glitters.

David O'Meara has not bought many horses over this season and it looks as though one of his best chances of winner come in the way of this gelding.

He is now turning eight and may not be the horse of old, but still does retain enough potential to see him go well in this event having ran credibly in races such as the QEII, Summer Mile Stakes and York Stakes in England last term.

He is a past Royal Ascot Group One winner and if returning to anywhere near that form he should go close in this race.

He has only been seen at the Meydan track once in his career and finished a good third behind the Japanese star Almond Eye in a Group One, which is solid track form.

The one mile Al Maktoum Challenge comes next and it sees some smart horses battle it out for Group Two glory on the dirt and the horse we are siding with is Gifts Of Gold.

The Saeed bin Suroor trained six year old is set to be ridden by Frankie Dettori who is having his first ride in Dubai this year and he is never to far away from the winners enclosure.

Gifts Of Gold has been twice recently, winning over 1m2f at Chelmsford in a handicap event and then in September stepping over turf in the Group Three Legacy Cup Stakes at Newbury where he was below par.

The return to dirt is a positive for this son of Invincible Spirit who will be looking to get back to his form of that Chelmsford win.

The penultimate event of the night sees the final Group Two event of the evening back on turf over seven furlongs and D'Bai for Charlie Appleby won't be too far away.

The seven year old at the back end of last year in Britain gave some superb performances that sparked a revival in form and now coming here of a break should be fresh enough to mount a big challenge.

The son of Dubawi went to Newbury in September and finished a good third over seven furlongs behind stablemate Glorious Journey and Final Song.

He then backed that up in October at Kempton in a Conditions Stakes when finishing second behind Harry's Bar and now back over a course and distance he has won at, he looks a big player.

The seven year old was a bold winner of this event back in 2019 and having not come over for the event last year is looking to now defend his title.

The Dubai Dash over five furlongs rounds off the card in Dubai and with plenty of familiar names in this big fielded event the horse that we think will close the show is Equilateral.

The Charles Hills trained six year old gets the mount of Frankie Dettori and the horse in his own right has some stand out form from last term.

Consistent most of the time, the geldings best run of last season came behind stablemate Battaash in the Group One King's Stands Stakes when a close second.

Since then the horse has struggled in similar company, but gave another solid run on his final start of the season at Newbury when third in a Group Three.

Dropping back into this lesser race should see a bold showing, with freshness being the key to this horses chances.