Dubai: Several horses from a new crop of rising stars will be looking to make a name for themselves, and their owners, by delivering a strong performance in the Group 1 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

Among them is Emaraaty, a £2.6 million purchase at last year’s Tattersalls October Sales by his renowned horse owner, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

Ever since he first set foot on a racecourse at Sandown on September 1, the son of Dubawi has been seen as an exciting prospect by his connections, including trainer John Gosden, an expectation that was given a massive boost when he dominated his rivals to win his maiden at Newbury on his subsequent start.

Explaining the rationale behind Emaraaty’s high price sale, Angus Gold, racing manager to Shaikh Hamdan, had quoted: “Shaikh Hamdan was keen to get a good Dubawi”.

“I watched Emaraaty work on the Limekilns on Saturday morning and he is in fine physical shape. Jim Crowley rode him and was very pleased with him,” Gold said in the build-up to Saturday race.

“It is a big step up from a maiden to a Group 1 and I would be stupid to assure you that he was going to beat horses like Expert Eye on Saturday. But he’s a very quick colt with great potential and we are very hopeful that he will be a Group 1 horse at some point in his career.

“His action suggests that the likely good or fast ground on Saturday should be no problem to him at all.”

Run on Newmarket’s famous Rowley Mile, the Dewhurst is regarded as the most prestigious two-year-old race in the UK with many of the leading runners going on to compete in the following year’s Group 1 2000 Guineas also at Newmarket and other Classics, like the Group 1 Epsom Derby.

The race was established in 1875 by Tom Gee who owned the famous Dewhurst Stud in Sussex and has since been won by many great horses. One of the most recent winners to go on and win a Classic was the Jim Bolger trained, New Approach, who triumphed in 2007, before winning the Epsom Derby the following year. Bolger has also trained three of the last four race winners of the race. Other famous winners include, Rock Of Gibraltar (2001), Grundy (1974) and Mill Reef (1970).

This year’s favourite is Expert Eye, who looked very special when winning at Glorious Goodwood earlier this year.

Latest Odds

Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (G1)

Expert Eye (4/7), Emaraaty (4/1), U S Navy Flag (8/1), Seahenge (9/1), Cardsharp (25/1), Threeandfourpence (33/1), Theobald (33/1), Mendelssohn (40/1), Great Prospector (40/1)