Best bets for the Dubai Carnival Meydan Thursday 8th February 2018

It’s Thursday so it must be Carnival time. As ever down at Triple G Towers I have been trawling through the form wishing I was out in Dubai and the sun rather than turning up the heating to fight off the Great British winter! One way to warm the old cockles is to nick a couple of quid and I think I have the horses to do just that this afternoon.

It will surprise no-one that Godolphin are well entered up with thirteen runners due to strut their stuff. I am on three of them.

The first race of interest to me is over the mile on the dirt track and is the Listed 1000 Guineas sponsored by Friday. The boys in blue have three of the eight runners and Winter Lightning from the Saeed bin Suroor yard looks their main hope having just got the better of market rival Raya in the Trial. It looks to be between the two of them and even though it could be argued Raya can turnover the form I liked the way Winter Lightning fought to get back at Raya and held her off in a bobbing finish. I am on the Godolphin filly at Evens.

It’s the dirt again for the six-furlong Group Three Al Shindagha Sprint sponsored by gulfnews.com at 3.40. The G.3 Dubawi Stakes 1-2-3 face-off again in this and they are the ones to concentrate on. I liked the way the Charlie Appleby trained Comicas won that day (I was on Muarrab having made the Godolphin horse the danger) and see little reason for the form to be reversed. Grab the 9-4. Muarrab and Reynaldothewizard should follow him home again.

We stay on the dirt track for the Group Two 1m1½f Al Maktoum Challenge R2 sponsored by Gulf News at 4.50. Heavy Metal and Thunder Snow oppose again having finished 1 & 2 in Round One over a mile last time. They go a little further to day and that should play to the talents of Thunder Snow; as I said last time he is quirky but when he is good he is good. Round one went perfectly for Heavy Metal last time but I am convinced the Godolphin colt will be able to track him and pick him up over this longer trip. I have the 13-8.

Be lucky