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Spotlight on Hanagan

Top Irish jockey Paul Hanagan may score in, at least, three out of his four rides at Meydan on Sunday.

All Hanagan’s rides will be in the distinguished blue colours of his boss Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.

The former champion jockey reunites with Nawwaar in the third race, a 1200m Al Basti Equiworld Bluefrog Trophy (turf), the first of the two features of the night, seeking his second straight win for the Grand Stand’s handler Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

Having finished respectable third to Innocuous on UAE debut over seven furlongs on the tapieta, the four-year-old Distorted Humor colt cruised to a comfortable victory over a mile when he was shifted to the turf track in a couple of weeks. The immediate danger would be Godolphin horse Les Troyens (Saeed bin Suroor/ Silvestre De Souza) and Silah (M Ramdan/ Patrick Dobbs) is the best of the rest.

Jawhar (Doug atson/ Paul Hanagan) looks good to land a long overdue victory in the fifth race, Al Basti Cup (turf), a TB Handicap event contested over ten furlongs.

The five-year-old son of former champion Halling was narrowly beaten last time out by the Godolphin runner Alkimos and must have benefited from that run to go one better this time out.

Hanagan’s third chance to strike would be in the final race, a 2200m TB Handicap Haygine Trophy (All-Weather) aboard Udabaa, a brilliant handicapper which was partnered by Dane O’Neill to win over distance and course a fortnight ago. But, the Godolphin filly Lyali Dubai could pose the only threat to Udabaa’s fortunes, should the Street Sense daughter manage to recapture her European form.

Having come to Dubai with four straight victories under her belt at the A/W surfaces of Lingfield and Wolverhampton, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained didn’t find much room on her UAE debut to finish poor ninth to Rebel Song over a shorter distance at the same venue. And with regular partner Silvestre De Souza is back in the saddle, Layali Dubai should return to her winning ways and throw her last start behind her back.

The six-race-card kicks start with a 2000m TB Bailey’s Cup Maiden (A/W), with four out of the maximum field of 16 runners are in with a chance to claim their respective first-ever win.

Cool Wind (Musbah Al Muhairi/ Wayne Smith), Petty Officer (M bin Shafea/ Adrie De Vries) and Queen of Alba (Satish Seemar/ Tadhg O’Shea) have nearly equal chances to score at the busy end. But, Cool Wood may have the advantage of racing over the extended distance.

KT Selections

1. Cool Wind/ Petty Officer

2. Commander Cave/ Dubai Iconic

3. Nawwaar/ Les Troeyns

4. Mark To Market/ Line of Sight

5. Jawhar/ Dr Faustus

6. Layali Dubai/ Udabaa

Day’s best: Layali Dubai