Dubai: Big-race hopeful Cool Cowboy makes his seasonal debut at Jebel Ali Racecourse’s second meeting of the season on Friday as he begins a tried-and-tested route to next year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival.
Raced by reigning UAE champion trainer Doug Watson, the five-year-old son of Kodiak Kowboy will face nine rivals in the featured 1,400 metre contest sponsored by Derrinstown Stud.
Cool Cowboy will be ridden by regular partner Pat Dobbs, who partnered him to third place in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile on Dubai World Cup night. Dobbs teamed-up with Watson’s stable star in all six of his starts last season including when the pair won the Group 3 Burj Nahaar on Super Saturday.
Previously raced in his native USA, Cool Cowboy has to give weight to all bar one of his nine rivals, Mashaaref, in his first outing on the Jebel Ali surface.
“He is in great form at home and ready for a run,” said Watson. “There are only so many opportunities for this kind of horse and we were keen to get a run into him before the Listed race at Meydan next month.
“This looked the perfect opportunity to do that and the owner was keen to try him at Jebel Ali. We think he will handle the conditions and should run a big race but he does have a lot of weight first time back.”
Meanwhile, Cool Cowboys’s stable companion, Just A Penny, is seeking a fifth course victory and fourth in succession, when he lines up under Sam Hitchcott in the same race.
Watson said: “This is a step up in class for him but he certainly merits it on what he showed last season. He too is going well at home and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the better grade.”
Emirati handler, Musabah Al Muhairi, whose runners fare well at Jebel Ali, is represented by a trio of challengers, including, Mashaaref, a winner of this race last year and also in 2013.
Like stable companion, Kanaf, he is owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who sponsors the race through Derrinstown Stud, the Irish arm of his vast thoroughbred breeding empire.
Al Muhairi’s stable jockey, Fernando Jara, is aboard the trainer’s third runner, Art Wave, who has won five times at Jebel Ali.
The strong field also includes Bluff, trained on the course by Dhruba Selvaratnam for racecourse patron, Maj Gen Shaikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Head of Dubai Police and Public Security.
Twice a winner when trained in the USA, he has finished an impressive runner-up twice since.
Gelded over the summer he is held in high regard by his experienced handler.
“He is a nice horse but was sweating a lot before his races last season,” said Selvaratnam. “We had him gelded, and we are hoping he will be more relaxed this season and the signs look good in that respect.
“This does look a hot race though and Cool Cowboy will be very hard to beat.”
With Jebel Ali stable jockey, Chris Hayes, indisposed through injury, Selvaratnam has booked Dubai-based Richard Mullen for the ride.
Friday’s card opens with the HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum UAE Breeders Society Challenge for Purebred Arabians.
Racing starts at 2.15pm.
GN Selections
Race 1. 1 Aragorn Forta; 2. Aasal Al Reef
Race 2. 1. Secret Ambition; 2. Qannaas
Race 3. 1. Cool Cowboy; 2. Bluff
Race 4, 1, Rich And Righteous; 2. Tides Rise
Race 5. 1. Almohtaseb; 2. Diwaan
Race 6: 1. Logistics; 2. Ballad Singer
Day’s Best: Cool Cowboy.
