Dubai: Muhaarar has strengthened his position at the head of the standings for the annual Cartier Sprinter Award following another stunning victory in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last week.

Trained by Charlie Hills in England, the son of Oasis Dream, has leapt to 96 points in the division, with Mecca’s Angel (48) moving up into second place as a results of her impressive victory in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York on August 21.

Royal Ascot victory Goldream, who was fifth in the Nunthorpe, is a joint third together with five-time winner Muthmir, who took sixth in the same race,

Both Muhaarar and Muthmir are owned by 2014 Cartier-winning owner-breeder Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

Muhaarar is also in contention for the Cartier Horse Of The Year and the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Awards.

French-trained Solow, the winner of four Group 1 races this season, heads the Horse Of The Year standings with 152 points.

The five-year-old, who is trained in France by Freddy Head, most recently landed the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Solow also enjoys a big lead in Cartier Older Horse division, ahead of Esoterique (92), winner of the Group 1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard — Jacques Le Marois over a mile at Deauville on August 16.

The closest pursuer to Solow is Golden Horn (136), who suffered a shock defeat by 50/1 long-shot Arabian Queen (64) in the Group 1 Juddmonte International at York on August 19.

However, Golden Horn, the winner of the Epsom Derby and Coral-Eclipse Stakes, holds his position at the top of the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt division ahead of dual Guineas’ winner Gleneagles (128), who did not run at Goodwood and York due to unfavourable ground conditions.

Meanwhile, the consistent Besharah (36) tops the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly category.

Owned by Shaikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, and trained by William Haggas, the son of Kodiac captured the Group 2 Lowther Stakes well on his last start at York on August 20. Acapulco (32), trained by Wesley Ward in the USA, is in second place following her second place effort in the Nunthorpe Stakes.

The 25th annual Cartier Racing Awards will be presented on Tuesday, November 10 in London, England.

The awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horse racing. In addition to the eight equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 17-strong Cartier jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.

European horseracing’s top awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races throughout 2015 (30 per cent), combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists (35 per cent) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph plus Channel 4 Racing viewers (35 per cent).