It’s a Mental field

MENTAL

This horse, who landed the valuable Patinack Farm Classic (G1) at Flemington in Australia last year, made a perfect start to his UAE career when winning the Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) at Meydan in February. Mental is now racing in the all blue colours of Godolphin. Believe it or not, this big outfit has yet to win the championship sprint.

Mental could be the one to break that duck. He was one of the best sprinters in Australia last year, and captured the Patinack Farm at Flemington. The runner-up Sea Siren had beaten Mental into second in the Manikato Stakes (G1) two weeks earlier, and also won two Group One sprints earlier in the year. Mental’s first run at Meydan suggests that there is more to come. He was an impressive off-the-pace winner of the Al Shindagha, where he beat Kavanagh by a length, while last year’s Golden Shaheen winner Krypton Factor finished third.

TRINNIBERG

This winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), looks just right for the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1). He has blistering early speed and carries it well.

EMCEE

A lightly raced five-year-old, Emcee is very interesting in this sprint. This ex-American runner showed blistering speed when trained by Kiaran McLaughlin last year and his best piece of form says that he can win the Golden Shaheen.

He was visually most impressive when taking the seven-furlong Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. As he had done in his previous races, Emcee raced up with the speed, and he saw the race out really well. He beat Hamazing Destiny by 4½ lengths, with Jersey Town third.

Interestingly, Emcee was heavily backed close to the Forego, and moved up to be a clear favourite on the board. There was clearly a lot of confidence behind him. He next went for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) but made no impact on that contest. Sprinting seems to be his game.

KRYPTON FACTOR

He won this event last year, when he caught Rocket Man, winner of the race in 2011. He shipped on to Singapore after his big win, but could manage only sixth in the Krisflyer Sprint (G1).

A month later Krypton Factor stepped out on the famous Royal Ascot lawn, and went for an even tougher task; against Black Caviar in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1). He ran a good race to finish fifth. Krypton Factor enjoyed a break after his trip to England and he returned to the races, in the Al Shindagha Sprint (G3) in February.

Sent off favourite, Krypton Factor was anonymous in the first half of the contest, but came with a late run to get up for third behind Mental. Then came Super Saturday, when he was expected to win. Did he regress, stay the same, or indeed move forward? Well, that depends on how good you believe Reynaldothewizard has become.

REYNALDOTHEWIZARD

The US bred son of Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Speightstown, was a nice sort of horse — up to Super Saturday that is. He was among the winners on that crucial prep day. Not just that, he recorded the biggest winning margin on the day, while running in the shortest contest; the Mahab Al Shimaal (G2) over 1,200 metres.

Having won a smaller race over the same trip in January, Reynaldothewizard improved considerably to win again, by four lengths from last year’s Golden Shaheen winner Krypton Factor. Reynaldothewizard had been given a seven-week break from his previous start, (to freshen him up), as rider Richard Mullen said after the easy win, and he looked fresh all right, scooting away early in the straight and giving the race favourite no chance of catching up. A similar performance must give this Satish Seemar-trained gelding a good chance in the Golden Shaheen. n