Golden gate for Dragon, but no joy for Nine
Ambitious Dragon will jump from an ideal gate in Saturday's Dubai Duty Free at Meydan, with his two domestic rivals in the same race to do it a little tougher, while Lucky Nine's chances in the Golden Shaheen were dealt a hammer blow when he drew the widest of 12 runners yesterday.
Emirates Racing Authority released barrier draws for eight of the nine races on the world's richest race night, with the US$10 Million Dubai World Cup to be drawn tomorrow.
Ambitious Dragon will jump from four in the 1,800m turf race, with California Memory and Xtension drawn alongside one another in eight and nine respectively. Last year's winner Presvis drew off the track in 12, with Hong Kong Mile runner-up Cityscape inside of him in 11.
Trainer Caspar Fownes was desperate for an inside draw with Lucky Nine for the 1,200m sprint on the Tapeta, but his hopes were dealt a savage blow when his Hong Kong Sprint winner was assigned barrier 12.
To make matters worse, last year's Golden Shaheen winner Rocket Man drew gate one and Krypton Factor, winner of the Mahab Al Shimaal on Super Saturday, also drew low in five.
In the Al Quoz Sprint, Joy And Fun was designated barrier six, where he will start next to Super Saturday winner Invincible Ash (seven), while Eagle Regiment will start from barrier 11.
Despite a four-hour flight delay for three of them, all six Hong Kong horses are settling in well, according to their handlers. Ambitious Dragon was the first to hit the training track yesterday morning, trainer Tony Millard's wife Beverly taking the Horse of the Year through two solo circuits of the floodlit track at a steady tempo.
'I'm happy with Ambitious Dragon, he's a horse with a very good temperament and he's settling in nicely,' Millard said. 'We gave him a gentle canter this morning. He did some faster work on Sunday but he trialled nicely in Hong Kong last week so the real hard work is done.'
