Hanne Jorgensen had her hands full yesterday morning when she breezed Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr 1) hopeful winner Prince Arch 400 metres on the turf at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse.

The assistant to trainer Ken McPeek, Jorgensen said her intention was just to give the four-year-old colt by Arch a look around the course prior to Saturday's big race.

But Prince Arch, win of the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (Gr I), tugged against her tight hold while bursting down the stretch and did not want to stop after being timed in :50.18 around the dogs (out at 16 metres).

"He tried to run off after the work," Jorgensen said with a laugh. "It took me about six furlongs to pull him up."

Known as a "big teddy bear" around the barn, Prince Arch is more like an aggressive grizzly on the racetrack.

He has adjusted to conditions in Dubai well and is ready to take on the best competition he has faced in his life, including Group One winner and Breeders' Cup Turf (Gr I) third-place finisher Powerscourt and Durban July Cup (Gr I) and South African Derby (Gr I) winner Greys Inn, she said.

"I like our horse in that race," Jorgensen said. "He's a fighter and he won't give up, and he's very happy here."

The Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap on March 6 was Prince Arch's first race in six months following the 2004 season in which he won two Grade Three events.

McPeek, who is due to arrive in Dubai on Wednesday, said he was not expecting Prince Arch to win the Gulfstream race and had chosen it primarily as a prep for the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Last year, McPeek saddled Hard Buck , who was just nipped at the wire by Polish Summer, in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Owned by Raymond Cottrell Sr, Prince Arch has won six of 14 career starts while earning $569,186 (Dh 2.1 million).

McPeek also runs Durban Thunder in the UAE Derby (Gr 2). Jorgensen breezed the colt 1,000 metres but a time for the move was not available.

"He went fast and he came back to the barn great," she said.

Although Durban Thunder, who has not raced since winning a Group One race in his native Brazil last June, was forced to miss his intended prep the Al Bastakiya, the middle jewel of the UAE Triple Crown at Nad Al Sheba on Super Saturday on March 5 due to a slight fever, Jorgensen said the son of Royal Academy has fully recovered from that setback.

"In the last week, he's turned around and he's like a new horse," she said. "He's worked twice since then and he's felt great."