Best bets for the horse racing Friday 13th January - Dubai World Cup Carnival

They race at Meydan again on Friday for the second meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival. I am involved, I really do enjoy the racing from Dubai in the cold and wet winter months here in the UK, and the fact they have moved the meetings to Friday suits me just fine having a few bets to take me into the weekend; might even have a cheeky pint. Anyway I digress, the bets for Friday follow.

Best bets for the horse racing at Meydan

The first race I have an interest in is the 6f Al Wasl Stakes on the Dirt at 2.35. I have talked of the Charlie Appleby trained Princeville before without actually backing him; had planned to when he won at Yarmouth on his second start but he was odds-on so I didn’t (Al Dasim second). His half-brother Yalta went well here on the Dirt back in the day so track conditions will hopefully be fine and obviously open to improvement yet after just four starts. Short enough but it is Appleby and Buick so has to be expected. I have the 13-8 with Hills. Old foe Al Dasim appears to be the danger. He was much busier as a two-year-old so has the experienced edge but he appeared better for running regularly so the absence of a run since November concerns me; might be better after this run.

The UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Stakes over 7f on the Dirt at 3.10 looks wide-open with little form to go on for most of those lining-up and I will be watching rather than punting. We are on the turf at 3.45 for the Ipi Tombe Stakes Stakes over 7f. Wild Beauty has won me a few quid and though not the best of campaigns in the summer, only ran three times, she is s class filly and should prove too good for this line-up especially when you remember it was Group One’s she was running in. Put away after her efforts in the 1,000 Guineas and the Prix Saint-Alary this drop back to seven for her seasonal reappearance will hopefully suit just fine and I would imagine there are bigger targets on the horizon for her. Annoyingly she is a shade odds-on but I have taken the 5-6. Soft Whisper has also won me a couple of quid in the past though I got her wrong a lot last season. She has talent but isn’t that trustworthy and at five probably has reached her ceiling.  

G.3 Bahrain Trophy winner Dubai Future heads the field of eleven for the feature the Group Two 1m1f Al Rashidiya on the Turf track at 4.20. Ottoman Fleet gets 1lb from most of the field here but the two-time Listed winner is actually top-rated officially. He was last seen winning the 1m2f Listed National Stud Welcomes Stradivarius James Seymour Stakes at HQ in October on soft by five-and-a-half lengths from stablemate Royal Fleet and after just six runs the four-year-old may have more to offer this season yet. As he is the one that could have more to offer, most of these are around this level and of an age where they aint getting better, I am happy to side with the choice of William Buick here and I am on at Evens.

At the prices it might suit you to do a cheeky Round Robin as I am all about Appleby and Buick on Friday.

Be lucky