Jan 15, 2020
The third meeting of the 2020 Dubai World Cup Carnival takes place tomorrow, please find below the Week 3 Meydan Overview and bet selections written by Racing TV’s Angus McNae.
Meydan Overview & Selections – Week 3:
Week 2 of the Carnival brought with it two excellent performances on the turf from Ehktiyaar and Zakouski. Both fired triple digit speed figures in recording overall times that were better than the expected. Zakouski will be hard to beat in the Al Fahidi Fort and Ehktiyaar can lay claim to be the best turf sprinter in the UAE at the moment.
The Al Maktoum Challenge on the dirt was a real spectacle with a tight fought finish, but from a purely analytical point of view this was a disappointing renewal. North America emerges as the best horse in the race and Muntazah needed the run badly. The latter will be hard to beat next time out.
The Cape Verdi heads up a strong card this week and here are my selections:
10:05am Meydan: Nine Below Zero
In a first time visor this horse showed a good deal of zest last week when racing clear of his field over 6 furlongs on the turf, before paying for his early exertions. Such aggressive tactics rarely work on turf but could be much more effective here on the dirt. Last season he can boast a very good second place to Drafted in the Mahabharata Al Shimaal and although out of form since, I felt there was real promise in his effort last week. My Catch is an obvious danger but he is a “need to lead” type and from his wide draw I’m not sure he can cross and clear Nine below Zero who should lead on the rail.
11:15am Meydan: Dubai Blue
This filly looked potentially very smart when beating Hateya at Lingfield last time out and can land a weak looking Cape Verdi. The turn of foot she showed to win with ease was most taking and now she has a chance to show that she is as effective on turf as she is on artificial surfaces. She...