Dubai: Sky Hunter has not raced in six months since winning a Group 2 event at Meydan, but an impressive performance in Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup (G3) at Newbury could set the Godolphin star up for a crack at the Melbourne Cup (G1) in six weeks’ time.
The Saeed Bin Surour-trained five-year-old is one of two horses with Dubai connections contesting the 2,200-metre event, which is registered as the Arc Trial and is part of a mouth-watering card supported by the world-renowned airport retailer.
Sky Hunter is a 25/1 chance with British bookmakers William Hill for the Australian showpiece in November, but he will need to produce a special performance in order to convince Bin Surour that he is worthy of being handed the task
“Sky Hunter has been working nicely and looks to be in good condition,” the trainer said on the Godolphin website.
“He won very well at Newbury last season and then went on to take a Group Two race out in Dubai. I am looking forward to getting him back on the racecourse, although he will improve for the run.”
Battalion, trained by William Haggas, represens Shaikh Juma Dalmouk Al Maktoum.
The field is headed by Eagle Top, who was beaten by a nose by Postponed in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
David Simcock’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes fourth The Corsican, Sir Michael Stoute’s Hillstar and Ooty Hill complete the field.
Bin Surour won the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup in 2004 with Sights Of Gold.
Godolphin also have strong claims in the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes on the same card, with the Richard Fahey-trainer Ribchester and Richard Hannon’s Log Out Island.
Mark Johnston, who boasts an abundance of riches in the two-year-old division, saddles Listed race scorer Whitman, while Chester scorer King Robert and 250/1 outsider Salt Lake Sooty complete the field.
Commenting on Ribchester’s chances, Fahey said on the Godolphin website: “Ribchester is in good form, although the ground will be something of an unknown. It was on the easy side of good when he won at York but this looks as though it will be a fair bit softer.
“We will give him a chance on the ground and see what happens.”
Richard Hannon: “Log Out Island has had a busy season, but he ran one of his best races so far in last week’s Flying Childers at Doncaster, and, though he was reverting to five [furlongs] there, we know that six is not a problem.
“The most encouraging thing about his performance on Town Moor was how well he battled. People have sometimes questioned his attitude, but he really knuckled down and rallied at Doncaster and he has a definite chance in what looks an open renewal.”
The Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes is a popular trial for the subsequent year’s Classics and has produced some memorable winners in recent years.
