Dubai Carnival

I would be a little careful at the start of the carnival on the SA horses.
There was a suggestion that our horses arrived well handicapped and it would appear that they have taken action on that front.
Mushreq (from 103 to113) and Royal Ridge (from 95 to107) are racing off significantly higher marks than their last local runs!

Royal Ridge has raced off 107, 107 and 105 in his previous 3 starts.
Mushreq remains a 117, as he was in the Duty Free.

Without having looked at any odds, my selections this evening are:

(1) Areem
(2) Roicead
(3) El Estruendoso
(4) My Freedom
(5) David Livingston
(6) Mufarrh
(7) Complicate

Sabre Wrote:

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> Royal Ridge has raced off 107, 107 and 105 in his
> previous 3 starts.
> Mushreq remains a 117, as he was in the Duty Free.


Problem is that after our horses run their first season in Dubai (where they have traditionaly kicked off with a low starting point),they,after one season, have tended to be held.(both RR and Mushreq looked uncompetitive off their significantly higher marks)
We tend to be patrotic and dive into the MdK horses but I will be wary until I see where they stand now.
Will also be particularly interesting to see what Ratings they will use for the new imports, this season.....could it be the ratings suggested by the Asian conference(ie the +6 points)

NERO EMPEROR place

Rob, everyone tends to favour what they know, I guess, not only our lot.

It's been shown season after season that Mike's imports from SAf arrive with ratings too low. I suppose it makes sense that they might lose their edge after being raised to a more accurate level. Can't say that Mushreq or Royal Ridge are good examples though, surely. RR won a handicap off a 105 and Mushreq hasn't raced in a handicap since being raised to 112 from 104, instead thrashing a Gr2 field on turf after a moderate AW run.

Like you said, I'd be more concerned with whether or not they'll need runs. Last season, Mike's horses fared MUCH better on their second starts at the carnival.

Roicead ran on nicely for 4th at 20/1, but was never going to get there.

Good luck to anyone who's prepared to put their hard-earned on Soumillon.

Never been able to work out why De Kock chose him to be his stable jock,and his ride is the 3rd race tonight does nothing to dispel my contempt for his abilities.

Rather give me Kevin Shea anyday.

Well done MDK

Mushreq is an absolute beast of an animal in Dubai

Well there we go ..........never try to second guess MdK ...........he really is remarkable..........and even when least expected!!
Well done again!

Royal Ridge ran well fresh in SA so maybe we better be careful of that too then.............as the stable website said both would need!

Complicate....related to Liverpool the Great....<