Godolphin's City Style gets first feel of track

Dubai: Godolphin's progressive City Style had his first look at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore ahead of a shot at the S$3 million (Dh8.75 million) Group One Singapore Airlines International Cup on Sunday.

The Mahmoud Al Zarouni-trained six-year-old flew in from Dubai on Monday evening after completing his final piece of work at Godolphin's Dubai headquarters in Al Quoz.

Andrea Mascolo, who accompanied City Style on the six-and-a-half-hour flight, said on the stable's website: "City Style took the journey very well. He has been drinking all of the time and had some feed on the plane as well. He is a quiet horse who is used to travelling, so we didn't have any problems. We will give him a trot around the racecourse on Tuesday morning to show him the track and then he is due to canter on Wednesday."

City Style, who will be ridden by Dubai World Cup-winning French jockey Mickael Barzalona, will bid to replicate the feat of Godolphin's Grandera who won the race in 2002.

The son of City Zip capped a good season during the Carnival in Dubai when he finished third in the $5m Dubai Duty Free (G1). In all he had five starts winning two of them and taking second place in two other races.

Among his main rivals are Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) sensation Cirrus Des Aigles, fellow French-trained challengers Chinchon, fifth in last year's SIA Cup — and Dream Peace.

Hong Kong are represented by Thumbs Up, Zaidan fand California Memory.

Meanwhile, the KrisFlyer Sprint over 1200m is likely to be a re-match between the Bahrain-trained Krypton Factor and Rocket Man. The pair clashed in the Group One Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan in March with the former coming out victorious.

High-quality fields

Joining the pair will be European sprinters Invincible Ash and Secret Asset.

Soong Tze Ming, Senior Vice-President Racing at the Singapore Turf Club said: "Again our two International races have gathered high-quality fields. To have a horse of the calibre of Cirrus Des Aigles coming to contest the Singapore Airlines International Cup is a clear indication the race is highly regarded on the international circuit and we also get the chance to witness the rematch of the two Golden Shaheen protagonists Krypton Factor and Rocket Man in the KrisFlyer International Sprint."