3 minute read
The Dubai World Cup Carnival kicks off at the Meydan on Thursday with the turf action headlined by the 2021 Singspiel Stakes.
Much of the attention revolves around the reuniting of Frankie Dettori and Saeed Bin Suroor, one of the most powerful combinations in world racing up until Dettori's split with Godolphin in 2012.
The pair link up with the highly regarded Military March who makes his first appearance since finishing fourth in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, a performance that had him at the pointy end of betting for the Derby at Epsom before injury cut his campaign short.
He will surely be better for the hit out in the Singspiel but his Guineas run, along with his Autumn Stakes win as a two-year-old where he cleared out along with the smart Al Suhail (also sparingly seen since) returning a particularly smart overall time, have him marked as one that should make his mark at the top level and a winning return here would hardly surprise.
Of course, it will hardly surprise the market either, and early prices have Military March as short as $2.50 with a little bit better available in places.
Second favourite Zakouski is probably not as good as Military March but he showed a powerful closing burst to win the Zabeel Mile at the carnival last year and has had the benefit of recent racing - winning a listed race in England just 82 days back.
He has the ratings and the platform to make this tricky for Military March and prices bigger than 3/1 look a worthwhile gamble against the favourite.
The other that earns more than a cursory glance in the field is Kinross who ran in the Guineas just in behind Military March earlier in the season and looked like he might be ready to come good on early promise when winning in fairly slick figures at Kempton in November.
It's unlikely that a repeat of that effort would be good enough to see off Military March and Zakouski but he's always promised more and double figure odds may just undersell him a touch.
Recommended bet: Back Zakouski at $4.33+
