Reynaldothewizard out to conjure another popular victory in favourite race

Dubawi Stakes
4.50 Meydan | G3 | 6f dirt | 3yo+ | RUK

Yeats is famous for winning four consecutive Ascot Gold Cups, Vinnie Roe achieved the same in the Irish St Leger, Makybe Diva landed three Melbourne Cups on the spin and Further Flight won five consecutive Jockey Club Cups. Over jumps Red Rum’s three Grand Nationals, and Desert Orchid’s four King Georges and Kauto Star’s five, are among the magical multiple memories.

The relevance to Meydan on Thursday? He goes by the name Reynaldothewizard and he seeks to further enhance his legendary status in the UAE by winning the Group 3 Dubawi Stakes for a fourth consecutive year and fifth time in all.

The sprint, upgraded from a Listed contest this year, is the highlight of the second Dubai World Cup Carnival meeting and Reynaldothewizard is the undoubted main interest.

Now a 12-year-old and quite possibly in his final season, the Satish Seemar-trained Reynaldothewizard has raced only 22 times since arriving in the UAE as a three-year-old in 2009, having won one of six starts for Eoin Harty in the United States.

He made a winning local debut under Harry Bentley – the only time Richard Mullen has not ridden him – in a Meydan handicap in November 2010 and has not looked back.

His first Dubawi Stakes victory was in 2013, when the race had conditions status, and he went on to give Mullen his biggest career success later that year in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen. He won Thursday’s race again in 2015 and has defended the crown for the past two years.

Mullen said: “He’s an absolute legend in the yard and within the local racing community. He may be 12 but nobody has told him and he’s full of himself at home.

“That said, he never has worked well – therefore I didn’t ride him that first time. We plan his campaign methodically; he doesn’t take much racing because in a race he gives his all.

“Hopefully he’s in the same shape he was in each of the last three years coming into the race.”

Reynaldothewizard faces no easy task with his six opponents including 2016 Golden Shaheen winner Muarrab, who was beaten only half a length when second in last year's race and made an impressive winning seasonal debut in the Listed Garhoud Sprint four weeks ago.

The placed horses in the Garhoud Sprint are also in the line-up. Godolphin’s Comicas was second and trainer Charlie Appleby said: “He needed his comeback run and has improved from it. He should run well.”

Third was My Catch, whose trainer Doug Watson said: “He just wasn't himself that evening and we don't really know why. A lower draw would have been preferable. If he breaks well we expect a big effort in a competitive race.”

Rest of the card

The main supporting race is the UAE 1,000 Guineas Trial, which includes three Godolphin runners. Saeed Bin Suroor trains two of them, Caring Touch and Winter Lightning, and said: “Both my fillies have really thrived since arriving in Dubai and we hope they'll run well.”

Karl Burke and Norway’s Niels Petersen are the two internationals to take up the gauntlet in the trial, with Burke running Line House, who was second at Southwell on her first start for the trainer last month.

Burke said: “She ran very well at Southwell in her prep for a Dubai campaign and has been pleasing us in her work on the dirt.

“Hopefully she can carry that over into a race, but until they compete on the dirt you never know how they'll handle it.”

The Middleham trainer also runs Born To Be Alive and London Protocol in handicaps and added: “Born To Be Alive has had little racing and is progressive. He was probably unlucky not to win his prep at Wolverhampton and we hope he's an ideal Carnival horse.

“London Protocol is a nice horse but perhaps will need the run in what looks a very hot handicap.”

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