Group 2; 4.20pm; $1 million; sponsored by Meydan Sobha
By Geir Stabell | Special to GN Focus
Sloane Avenue
Sloane Avenue, who ran such a big race to be runner-up in last year’s Godolphin Mile, has had just the one outing in England since, when he ran second to Captain Cat in a four-runner affair at Kempton Park in February.
Sloane Avenue was a hot favourite that day but we should probably not read too much into this 1-length defeat, as the race was run totally differently to what suits him best. Captain Cat, who is also a very smart performer, was able to dominate in front and Sloane Avenue could not quite cut him back. What this Jeremy Noseda trainee needs is a strongly run race with plenty of early speed, setting matters up for his off-the-pace closing style.
He finished best when failing by no more than a nose against favourite Tamarkuz at Meydan a year ago. While the winner had a perfect start from stall 1, Sloane Avenue broke from the widest stall in the 15-runner field. He must have good chance of avenging the bad luck this time. A typical miler, Sloane Avenue is a lightly raced five-year-old with three wins from seven career starts.
Marking
Marking is an exciting four-year-old trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, who will saddle Frosted for the World Cup. This son of Bernardini has had two sprint runs in Dubai. One to forget and one to remember. He was favourite for his UAE debut on February 11, but took a bad stumble as the gates opened, went down on his knees and gave jockey James Doyle no chance of staying on board. Rich Tapestry went gate to wire in this race and ran out a solid winner.
It is impossible to say whether Marking could have given him a fight but the Godolphin runner made amends with a highly promising handicap win two weeks later, when he carried to top weight to victory over Kifaah, who was swept aside as Marking hit top gear in the closing stages. The winning margin was 2 lengths and the time almost identical to that recorded by Rich Tapestry.
Marking certainly has the talent to go right to the top. He ran second to North America’s top sprinter, Runhappy, in last year’s Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita in California. He won a good allowance race in New York by open lengths.
Cool Cowboy
Trainer Doug Watson has had an excellent season and takes a shot at the Godolphin Mile with Cool Cowboy, a tough, versatile runner who won the final prep for this contest in style three weeks ago.
Facing seven rivals, including Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 winner Le Bernardin, Cool Cowboy was well fancied in the Burj Nahar and he delivered with a rock-solid 3¾-length win after leading all the way.
The Meydan dirt track favoured speed but it was still a fine performance by Cool Cowboy. Probably his best ever. He was in command throughout and had matters wrapped up well before the winning post. The Burj Nahar was Cool Cowboy’s seventh win from 17 starts.
He began his career with Dale Bennett in the US, where he won four races, including the Inaugural Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs as a juvenile. This miler can also sprint, as we saw when he took second behind Reynaldothewizard in the Dubawi Stakes in January. Given his prominent running style, Cool Cowboy would be best off with a low to middle stall in the Godolphin Mile, a race where it’s hard to make an impact from a wide starting point.
