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| Staff Writer |
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On Friday at Meydan Racecourse, a group of formidable sprinters will compete for the sizable AED500,000 prize in the Listed Garhoud Sprint presented by Azizi. This 1200m sprint on the dirt surface is the second of three races in the Emirates Sprint Series, which awards a AED250,000 bonus to the winner of at least two of the three events on the programme.
Although Eastern World won the opening leg of the series at Sharjah, his trainer Ahmad bin Harmash replaced him with stablemate Magic Petition, making the bonus up for grabs. If Magic Petition wins, Bin Harmash will have two contenders in the final leg, the Listed Jebel Ali Sprint on February 10, 2024.
Magic Petition, a former course and distance winner, was gelded during the offseason and placed second behind Leading Spirit on his seasonal debut four weeks ago. With a slight improvement from his last performance, Magic Petition could avenge that defeat as he faces Leading Spirit, who will be ridden by Pat Cosgrave.
Freedom Fighter, ridden by Tadhg O’Shea, is another contender trained by Bhupat Seemar of Zabeel Stables, who has dominated Meydan's dirt sprint division for decades. Seemar’s third entry, Bay Of Honour (James Doyle), has yet to make his mark on dirt since joining Zabeel in September.
Miqyaas (Oscar Chavez) won the Gr.2 Blue Point Sprint on turf last season, but struggled in the Gr.3 Nad Al Sheba Sprint against strong rivals. Silent Speech (Salem bin Ghadayer/Royston Ffrench), who won the 1200m Dubai Trophy in January last year and was a runner-up over on his next assignment, is also part of the field. Saleymm, a 5YO Dubawi gelding trained by Michael Costa, makes his UAE debut after finishing second in the Listed Dubai Duty Free Cup at Newbury in September 2022.
The highlight of the undercard is the Azizi Venice, an 80-100 rated handicap over 1900m. Alhzeem (Ben Coen), a 5YO Liam’s Map gelding trained by Michael Costa, is expected to bounce back to winning ways after a disappointing run in his last start. Bin Ghadayer has two entries: UAE debutante Forest Falcon (Royston Ffrench) and Made In Dubai, who won his last start in a mile handicap under Mickael Barzalona.
The Mina by Azizi, a Non-Winner (not more than one win), features a field of 10 juveniles, with Nezeeh (Saeed bin Suroor/Cristian Demuro) and Military Artist (Fawzi Nass/Adrie de Vries) both having won once in two starts each. The PA Gr.2 Madjani Stakes presented by Azizi kicks off the evening's events with a field of tough Purebred Arabians, competing for a chance to drop their names into the mix for the PA Gr.1 Dubai Kahayla Classic.