Military Attack
Military Attack, whose name was Reve when he raced in England in his younger days, is a champion in Hong Kong with international success to his name. His most recent performance was one of his best ever, so naturally he is one to respect when he competes for big bucks at Meydan.
Trained by John Moore, Military Attack first made his mark as a top-class runner when capturing the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in April last year (beating multiple Group One winner California Memory). He went straight from that success to the Singapore International Cup at Kranji in May, and impressed as he came home more than three lengths ahead of Dan Excel, a rival he met again in the Hong Kong Gold Cup in February this year. Also in the race was Akeed Mofeed (who pushed Military Attack back to fourth place when winning the 2013 Hong Kong Cup) but Military Attack proved too good. Racing over 2,000 metres at Sha Tin, a trip which he knows so well and loves so much, Military Attack hit top form with a three-length win over Dan Excel, with Akeed Mofeed back in fifth place.
It was his ninth career win — and number ten could well happen tonight.
Mukhadram
Owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, five-year-old Mukhadram has finished in the first three in seven of his ten races to date. He had several options to run in valuable races around the world last autumn, but he was given a long break leading up to a crack at the World Cup.
Mukhadram was last seen in a well-beaten fifth place behind Godolphin’s Farhh in the Champion Stakes at Ascot last October, when the heavy ground did not suit him at all. Make no mistake, Mukhadram is better than that result might indicate. Much better. A late developing sort, he may also show further progress this season. He ran four super races on the trot over 2,000 metres in England last year, when he won a Group Three at Sandown, ran second and third to Al Kazeem in a pair of prestigious Group Ones (and was badly hampered at the finish, when he should have been runner-up), before beating Grandeur in a Group Two at York.
The World Cup distance suits Mukhadram, and ideally his prominent style should bring him success at Meydan. Given that the World Cup has been a long-term target, he most certainly is a leading player.
Ruler Of The World
Irish champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has selected Ruler of The World, winner of last year’s Epsom Derby, as his representative in the Dubai World Cup, and this four-year-old colt, albeit still a bit below the best older horses around, must be respected. He was a bit of a surprise winner at Epsom last June, when defeating subsequent Godolphin purchase Libertarian by 1½ lengths to win at odds of 7-1.
Ruler Of The World was an inexperienced runner and this classic win led to big expectations for the future. He was not able to live up to them though, as he finished only fifth, ten lengths behind Trading Leather in the Irish Derby four weeks later. Was his Epsom performance a bit of a fluke? We don’t quite know yet but his best run in the autumn, after a summer break, indicated that it wasn’t.
Ruler Of The World returned with a fine run at Longchamp in Paris in September, when he was an unlucky runner-up to Japanese Derby winner Kizuna in the Prix Niel, an important prep race for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which again Kizuna did better in over Ruler Of The World, as the Japanese colt came home in fourth place behind the brilliant filly Treve, while Ruler Of The World was seventh past the post. A combination of heavy ground and some trouble in running contributed to this below par performance. He did well to finish as close as he did. Ruler Of The World also suffered a rough trip when beaten by just a head by Kizuna in the Prix Niel.
His record to date would make Ruler Of The World a perfect fit in the Sheema Classic, but he cuts back in distance and switches to a new surface to go for the biggest pot on the night. Interesting.
Hillstar
Trainer Sir Michael Stoute, who trains in Newmarket, England, has over the years proved himself a master of developing older horses. Patience was the name of the game when he coached Singspiel from being a second-level stakes runner at three, to landing the Dubai World Cup at five, having won the Japan Cup on his last start at four. He is just one of several high-class runners to have improved significantly with age for this stable. Hillstar could be a horse set to follow a similar path.
Highly touted last spring, he disappointed twice, then came good at Royal Ascot in June, when he won the King Edward VII Stakes over 2,400 metres, beating the favourite Battle Of Marengo (who was coming off a fourth in the Epsom Derby). Hillstar stepped up to meet older horses in three subsequent runs, and performed with credit without winning again. The best of these was a third to German champion Novellist in the King George back at Ascot in July. Hillstar is a neat, well-balanced colt with a nice turn of foot. Good-to-firm grounds suit him best. He is certainly open to improvement.
