Without a shred of doubt, the honour of training the stars of the 2014-2015 UAE racing season, thus far, has to go to Doug Watson, while Godolphin’s Saeed Bin Surour and Charlie Appleby have been responsible for putting the star quality into the Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Watson’s horses have been firing on all cylinders, since the start of the season the two Red Stables trainees, Diwaan and Faulker, who have won four races each, have undoubtedly been the highest achievers on the domestic circuit.

I have not seen the American handler, who has been based in the UAE since the early nineties, looking as enthused as he has ever since the dirt track was introduced at Meydan. With the playing field now comprised of four dirt surfaces, at Meydan, Jebel Ali, Sharjah and Al Ain, Watson’s dirt-friendly runners have run the roost amassing 36 winners (prior to Saturday’s race meeting).

Watson has repeatedly said that the return to dirt at Meydan has proved to be a tonic for his stable.

Interestingly, Bin Surour’s runners also appear to be relishing the dirt at Meydan, and have resulted in him single-handedly dominating the Carnival. This despite the fact that he still trains on a synthetic surface, the Tapeta all-weather track, at his UAE base at Al Quoz.

The Emirati handler has never shied away from the dirt, which appears to pose difficulties for most of the British and European runners.

He’s already accumulated 14 wins in eight Carnival meetings this season, with the progressive Local Time delivering three of them, including when victorious most recently, when winning the UAE 1,000.

It was the daughter of Invincible Spirit’s third success of the Carnival. a feat which is matched only by Appleby’s Safety Check.

There’s not much to choose between the two horses, but there is so much to like about the way in which Local Time, who first announced herself as a big-race prospect when winning the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket last October, has risen in the ranks.

Like Safety Check, she has done nothing wrong all season, and I believe that she deserves to take her chances against the colt in the UAE Derby.

Bin Surour only has to look back to 2011 to be inspired. It was the year in which his filly Khawlah beat Coolmore’s Master of Hounds by a nose to become the first of her sex to win the Classic.

Local Time has proven her versatility with wins on turf, synthetics and dirt, and now merits a shot at the three-year-old highlight on Dubai World Cup day a month from now.