Shaheen hero Tuz the Leading Light on Packed Carnival Card

It’s nine months since Tuz blasted his rivals into submission with a dominant display in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen on Dubai World Cup night, but he’s back and ready do it all again.

Dakki Stable’s star carries a 1.5kg penalty for his big win, and trainer Bhupat Seemar reports him on song for this seasonal bow.

“He’s wonderful!” enthused the UAE Champion Trainer. “He’s a seven-year-old, so he’s still a bit chunky, but I think we have him fitter than last year when he was beaten first time out at Sharjah.

“He’s a Group 1 winner and probably one of the fastest horses in the world, so I guess he has to carry that penalty.

Tuz, who will break from stall seven under regular rider Tadhg O’Shea, has been with Seemar’s team since his two-year-old days, when he arrived after winning both his starts in Pyatigorsk, Russia.

“What a good horse he is,” continued Seemar. “He’s won at a mile, finished second at nine furlongs and now he’s a Group I winner at six furlongs.”

Two of Tuz’s six rivals are also trained by Seemar, including Morning, a winner at Sharjah three weeks’ ago, who will be ridden by Silvestre de Sousa.

“Morning is a completely different type of horse,” said Seemar. “He breaks slowly from the gate, while Tuz can rock and roll up in front and he also has stamina to win over a mile. Morning will come from behind.”

The third Zabeel Stables’ runner is Freedom Fighter, who is yet to win in nine starts in the UAE but has been second three times.

“That horse looks like he’s wearing high heels, he’s got the worst feet,” said Seemar of the six-year-old. “When he’s right, he’s incredible, and when he’s not so right, he doesn’t put it in.”

The biggest danger to the Seemar trio is likely to be Doug Watson’s Colour Up, winner of this race last year, while the Michael Costa-trained Mojeyrr won over course and distance a month ago.

“He’s doing great and this is a good place to start him off,” said Watson of Sayed Hashish’s Colour Up. “Of course, we’re all up against it with Tuz in there.”

Mount Kosciuszko to Scale Meydan’s Heights

The second most valuable race on the eight-race card is race seven, the AED250,000 Zoho Handicap, over 2000metres.

Seven line up, including Mount Kosciuszko, a winner at Jebel Ali a month ago on his first start for trainer Julio Olascoaga.

“He’s doing really well and we’re expecting a little bit more from him this time,” said the trainer. “He’s been working really well at Meydan, so that’s why we decided to enter him here.

“The day that he won at Jebel Ali, I wasn’t so sure about running him there. I thought he was a better horse here at Meydan because he moves really well over the surface.”

Mount Kosciuszko’s opponents include Lahresh, Sayedd and Go Soldier Go, first, second and third over 1900metres here two weeks’ ago.

Olascoaga runs another grey, Norato, in race six, the Phi Advertising Maiden over 1600metres. The son of Kentuckian was third on his debut over 1400metres last month.

“A mile will suit him much better,” said the Uruguayan handler. “He will appreciate the longer distance and he came out well from that race – he needed the run here last time.”

The race also sees the local debut of Age Of Baroque, a AED150,000 purchase from the March Racing In Dubai Sale by trainer Lucie Botti, who will train the three-year-old for owner Khalifa Dasmal.

“He’s a very exciting prospect,” said the trainer. “Both Khalifa and I liked him at the sale and he’s given me the opportunity to train him, which is brilliant.

“He’s running on the dirt which is throwing him in the deep end, but he’s fairly fit and does have some gate speed. This will tell us whether to campaign on the dirt or turf in the future.”

Intriguing Juvenile Contest Opens the Card

Botti runs two in the opening Arabian Radio Network two-year-old race, for non-winners of two.  

Channagide, a half-brother to 2022 G2 UAE Derby second Summer Is Tomorrow, is the mount of Andrew Slattery, while Yuvraaj will be ridden by Danny Tudhope.

“He’s loving it in Dubai, he’s a real teenager,” said Botti of Channagide. “He’s slightly behind in his preparation because he had a break after his run at Kempton, but he seems to be handling the dirt, which will be a new experience for him.

“He needs further, we’re aware of that, so he’s having a run for experience and to see where we can finish. The Al Bastakiya and UAE Derby are the dream.”

On Yuvraaj, a son of Union Rags, she added; “He’s a beautiful horse. I call him a toddler in a classy body.

“He’s been an absolute star to deal with over here, travelled like a dream, settled in straight away. He’s definitely going to need a bit of time to develop, but hopefully we can be looking at better things next year.”

Seemar runs two in the opener, including an intriguing local debutant in Just, a son of Justify, who was formerly trained by Andre Fabre in France.

“This horse is going to get better with age,” he said. “A mile is a good place to start him, but he’ll be better as he goes further.”

Stablemate Undefeated has Meydan experience, having finished third over 1200metres last time out. “He’s a very talented horse,” continued the trainer. “Everything went wrong for him first time out, he broke slow, went around the whole field, and then was eating up the ground.

“I hope he learned a lot from that race. He’s by Vekoma who is starting to be a very good freshman sire in America, so I think he has a future if everything goes right for him.”

The eight-race card gets underway at 5:30pm, with gates opening at 4pm.