Another memorable Dubai Carnival begins to draw to a close on Thursday and all eyes will soon be focused on Dubai World Cup night on Saturday March 27th, writes Nick Wilby.
The leading contenders for the world’s richest race are beginning to put their final preperations in place and there seems to be a void at the head of the market after Gio Ponti went down by a nose in last Saturday’s Tampa Bay Breeders’ Cup. He is sure to come on for that but it is easy to see why Coral eased the horse to 5/1 for the race and it is looking like a particularly open betting heat.
Gitano Hernando will put his World Cup credentials on the line in the Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield on Saturday and the likes of Twice Over and Vision D’Etat will no doubt be coming to the boil with the race now just a month away.
Crowded House is a horse I have shown great interest in and after another encouraging performance at Meydan last week, he now looks almost certain to take his chance in the World Cup. The 33/1 that has been on offer across the board of late has been eaten up and his price now rests at around the 14/1 mark (Coral). He has the ability to trouble those at the head of the market and after flagging up his each-way value last week, punters should be more than happy to sit on their antepost slips in the hope that Brian Meehan can get Crowded House to Dubai World Cup night on the top of his game.
This week sees more UAE classic action and it is UAE Oaks day at Meydan. The feature appears to lie in the hands of 1000 Guineas winner Siyaadah (5/4, Paddy Power) and she will be tough to beat if she is in the same sort of form as two weeks ago.
However, I am far more interested in seeing the return of Mike De Kock’s highly-regarded ZIRCONEUM (7/4, Ladbrokes) in the Group 3 Balanchine at 5.45.
The Grade One-winning filly came to the UAE with a huge reputation after finishing second from a poor draw in last year’s Durban July and De Kock has made no secret about the fact he believes the horse could be the best filly he has trained since his Dubai Duty Free winner Ipe Tombe.
After suffering from a setback and missing some key pieces of work, she could only finish sixth on her UAE debut chasing home Soneva in the Group 3 Cape Verdi. Her trainer was keen to stress that the filly may need her run that day and having to concede weight all round over a trip shorter than her best, she was ultimately found out under the lights at Meydan.
Zirconeum wasn’t given a hard time in that race and she was doing her best work late on, making great strides up the straight after being bumped two furlongs from home and punters can expect to see a different horse on Thursday.
The opposition is strong, Aspectoflove (13/8, Bet365) is a formidable opponent for a team that is firing on all cylinders and Deem (5/1, Paddy Power) would be a tough nut to crack if anything like the same horse that finished seventh in last year’s Sheema Classic. However, it is Zirconeum that should take all the beating and she is expected to land this before moving onto bigger things.
Nick Wilby’s advice:
Back ZIRCONEUM to win the Balanchine at 5.45 at odds of 7/4 (Ladbrokes).
Ladbrokes are offering punters a free £25 bet on today’s action at Meydan. Simply use the bonus code MAXIMUMBONUS when you register to be entitled to the offer.
