What an amazing night of racing, and the best is yet to come! We hope you enjoyed the first night of the 2010 Dubai International Racing Carnival, hosting the first meeting at the world’s iconic racecourse at Meydan.
TAPETA = FAIR AND DIVERSE
How great is this surface? Winners of the eight races did a little bit of everything during the heart of the race and a perfectly fair course seemed even for runners of all styles. RAIHANA won the first thoroughbred race while wide throughout, picking up the field and easily moving past them all in the middle of the course. LIZARD’S DESIRE sat just off pacesetting Bennie Blue, slipped through on the inside, and pulled away. DRUNKEN SAILOR was towards the back of the back, but towards the inside, and gradually advanced through the field as they turned for home and bore out a bit through the stretch for the win. SIR GERRY went from last to first with a wide sweep past everyone in the fifth race. WHISPERING GALLERY made all while GLORIA DE CAMPEAO went to the lead, settled, lost some position on the rail in the stretch and re-rallied. LEAHURST sat right off the lead but three-wide and gradually advanced before pulling away.
Can we say there is a trend through the first eight races at Meydan? Interestingly, those who read the Dubai Racing Comprehensive (which is linked to all DubaiRaceNight.com Newsletter subscribers) will remember the comments of American handicapper Doug Salvatore who has covered Tapeta racing. Salvatore noticed a trend at Presque Isle Downs, where Tapeta has been in place for three seasons, that races on the back-half of a card tended to favor front-runners. As it was, the last three races of the night went the way of the those on or just off the pace. We will keep an eye on this as the season progresses.
DUBAI RACING CHANNEL
The coverage from the folks at the Dubai Racing Channel was nothing short of amazing. With five hours of coverage, fabulous hosts Brett Williams and Laura King could have easily been overwhelmed and repetitive. Handicapper Jason Ford added a thoughtful analysis and insight. Fanny Salmon, the main international reporter for France’s Equidia, interviewed a host of top names and gave us extra perspective from some of the top connections, including Sheikh Mohammed, Luca Cumani, and many others. Features produced with Daragh O’Donohue walking the Tapeta, Michael Dickinson providing his basis for the surface, and several other insights broke up the long-time between races. Bottom line: a top job.
FAVORITES
While the UK betting markets vary with differing final figures, the international commingled pool offers a static way to measure how the punters saw the night of racing. As it was, diversity ruled. Favorites ruled the early part of the card with a Mike De Kock double; Whispering Gallery obliged as even money chalk in the sixth. Drunken Sailor scored at 6-1 in advance of 49-1 shocker Sir Gerry. Gloria De Campeao was let go at a head-scratching 16-1 in the commingled pool while Leahurst was just short of favorite status in the finale at 2-1. Midshipman and Bab Al Salam both failed as odds-on favorites, failing to even catch a placing. The international punters made Macau shipper Good Control a surprising 9-5 favorite in the fifth race while Godolphin’s Aichi was just behind at 2-1. Both also failed to figure at the end.
TIPPING RECORDS
We’ll keep track of the top selections from the two DubaiRaceNight.com tipsters as the meetings progress:
Pat Cummings – 8 selections: 2 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds – 25% win, 37.5% in-the-money
Amelia Baldree – 8 selections: 1 win, 0 seconds, 2 thirds – 12.5% win, 37.5% in-the-money
NEXT WEEK AT MEYDAN
Expect to see a host of specialists next week, led by the return of PRESVIS, winner of the 2009 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) at Sha Tin. A set of Indian shippers are due to make their first appearance next week as well and could add a flare of even greater difficulty in handicapping the races.