2013 Al Rashidiya Betting Preview at Meydan

There is a full card of excellent racing at Meydan Racecourse on Thursday and the feature race has attracted some extremely talented runners. The Group 2 Al Rashidiya is one of the premier turf preps in Dubai and this one has a field of 10 contenders set to go 1m1f. 

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The early betting choice appears to be Sharestan who lines up for Godolphin and is trained by Saeed bin Suroor. This one has some really solid breeding for this distance and he was able to score on his Meydan debut going 1m1f. He had a good season in Ireland last year and will be looking to kick on here and achieve new heights. He was bred by the Aga Khan’s stud and has been campaigned selectively. It’s also worth noting that he is still a full horse. 

He has a tendency to race prominently and should be pressing the pace early on. Should the track be playing similarly to last week, he shouldn’t struggle to kick when the moment is right. He’s not finished outside of the top 3 in his entire career of eight races and you can expect him to be there-or-thereabouts in the Al Rashidiya. 

City Style looks like a fascinating one and he’s by City Zip out of a Canadian-bred mare by Katahaula County. The seven-year-old has been showing up in some top-quality turf contests with appearances at Sandown and Ascot last year. He is at his best when running at Meydan, it seems, and he had a fantastic season last year. 

Expect him to hover around 8/1 if he doesn’t take a substantial amount of late money in this one. 

Mike De Kock has entered The Apache and not much is known about him, though he has been campaigned at the highest level in his native South Africa. He will definitely take money and should enjoy the switch to the surface here. 

Derbaas is a veteran Dubai runner and comes out of Sheikh Hamdan’s yard. Bred by Shadwell and boasting some slightly up-and-down form, he will have some confidence after picking up a pair of scores in Abu Dhabi with Dane O’Neill in the irons. The son of Seeking The Gold, who is also still a full horse, will be trading at around 15/1 or so for the Al Rashidiya.