Dubai: Veteran handler Dhruba Selvaratnam reports his American acquisition, Bluff, to be in good order ahead of his seasonal debut at Jebel Ali Racecourse’s second meeting of the new season.
The four-year-old son of Tapit faces a strong field led by Godolphin Mile (Group 1) third Cool Cowboy in the 1,400-metre contest sponsored by Derrinstown Stud.
Bluff finished second in two of his three starts at the track last season but Selvaratnam hopes that the now gelded Bluff can shine during the season.
“He faces a big test on Friday, with Cool Cowboy in the field,” said the Jebel Ali Stables boss. “But he’s a horse that I have always liked and we’re hoping he can progress from last season when he ran some decent races.
“Obviously he will come on for the run, so we have a lot to look forward to.”
Selvaratnam also said that he is looking forward to seeing how Forjat, his stable flag-bearer with eight UAE career wins, shapes up in what will be his sixth season in the emirates.
The eight-year-old son of Iffraj makes his seasonal debut in Sunday’s UAE Martyrs Cup at Abu Dhabi, the scene of his most famous victory in the National Day Cup in 2015.
“He has to concede a lot of weight but we’re expecting him to run well,” said Selvaratnam. “He runs well first up and British champion jockey Silvestre D’Sousa is flying in from Hong Kong for the assignment.”
The Jebel Ali boss is without his retained jockey Chris Hayes who injured his hand during track work at the course.
“He’s visiting the doc on Wednesday so we’ll see what happens after that,” added Selvaratnam. “It’s difficult when you can’t use a regular rider but we hope that Chris will recover soon and ride all our horses.
“In the time being, I am trying to book any rider who’s free and also considering bringing Pat Smullen down for a couple of weeks. But nothing has been finalised. We’ll just have to cope with the situation and do what’s best.”
Meanwhile Shareef Al Halwani, Manager of Jebel Ali Racecourse, thanked all the sponsors from Friday’s races including Shadwell, who are supporting the feature race on behalf of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.
The other five races will be sponsored by East Sports Management, Al Shafar Investment, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Ascana and Al Sahel Contracting.
“We welcome our partners back and look forward to another entertaining day’s racing on Friday.” said Halawani.
“As always Jebel Ali Racecourse will give away valuable gifts to lucky race fans and an entertaining afternoon’s programme has been planned.
“We respect our fans without whom Jebel Ali Racecourse will not be as popular as it is today.”
Yasir Mabrouk, representing the Emirates Racing Authority (ERA), said that the fields for the five races on Friday were small but competitive.
Representatives of the sponsors were present at a press conference held at the racecourse on Tuesday.
