Dubai: Muarrab’s speed, form and versatility make the Jebel Ali Sprint look like an easy target, but he may still have to run his best five-furlongs if he is to give two-time British champion jockey Paul Hanagan a first success in the contest — the third and final major race to be staged at the venue — on Friday.

Trained by Musabah Al Muhairi, Muarrab has won six of his seven stars at Jebel Ali, and clearly looks the one they will all have to beat.

However, resident Jebel Ali rider Oisin Murphy is optimistic of turning the tables on the favourite, when he rides Morawij.

“It looks a really hot race, with Muarrab obviously the one to beat, having won the prep,” he said. “But we have the motivation and hopefully Muarrab won’t get a soft lead this time and we’ll have a tighter result.”

“He gets a lot of weight often and obviously he’s a tough horse, but he has a lot to find on ratings. If he gets taken on, it might just upset him,” he said optimistically. “He’s a natural front-runner and he gets his own way because he’s got such good gate speed. But I think if he didn’t have his own way in front, he is beatable.”

Muarrab’s most recent victory, came in the Prep race over 1,000 metres a fortnight ago, where, despite carrying a penalty, he posted an impressive victory over Morawij.

Hanagan, who was in the saddle for three of Muarrab’s Jebel Ali wins, was bullish of his chances and said: “He is a real star, especially up the hill at Jebel Ali.

Lot of speed

“It was a really good performance in the prep considering he was giving weight away. He has so much speed I was never worried on that occasion and hopefully he will be very hard to beat on Friday.”

Satish Seemar has won this race on four occasions in the past and saddles former winners Take Ten, the defending champion and 2011 scorer Spin Cycle.

Take Ten, the mount of Marc Monaghan, is bidding to become only the third race after Try Prospect (1996, ‘97) and Russian Rock (20012, ‘13) to score back-to-back wins in the Sprint.

Doug Watson, whose runners have been in dominant form all season, sends out Kilt Rock, a five-time winner at Jebel Ali who was also second to Russian Rock in 2013 and fourth to Take Ten last year.

“I saw him work the other morning and he went very well,” said Justin Byrne, spokesman for owner Emirates Entertainment Racing Club (EERC). “We decided in January he needed the operation [wind issue] with the aim to get him back for this race.

“Obviously Muarrab will be hard to beat but we are hoping for a good run on a track he goes particularly well on.”

Salem Bin Ghadayer debuts former Ascot victory Blessington at Jebel Ali, following a first UAE outing on the Turf at Meydan.

Friday’s card features five other races, the first of which starts at 2.15pm.

Entrance is free with a variety of prizes and give-aways on offer for the public.