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Hugh Taylor
With no Flat racing on Sunday and two mundane National Hunt cards, I’m going to dip into the ante-post market, as DUBAI WARRIOR is my long-range Derby suggestion.
He impressed me as much as any 2yo maiden or novice winner last season, and the fact that it came in a class 5 novice event at Chelmsford on a Thursday night in November shouldn’t detract from his promise. Jack Hobbs, Persuasive, Enable and Without Parole all made winning debuts for John Gosden in modest all-weather events in November or December and all went on to win at Group 1 level.
Dubai Warrior produced an impressive time figure and sectionals combination when winning at Chelmsford, and the level to which he ran on that first start strongly suggests he will be making his mark at Group level.
He should stay middle distances as a 3yo; the very best performers of his sire Dansili have been 1m4f horses and he’s out of a Galileo mare who won over 1m1f-1m4f.
There are a couple of question marks; the first is that he’s just one of a bunch of potential Derby candidates in his stable, including top-class 2yo Too Darn Hot, and the second is that his smart full brother Mootasadir so far has only produced his form on the all-weather (albeit has raced only twice on turf), and Gosden has already stated that he’d be concerned about soft ground for Dubai Warrior.
However, I’m fairly confident he’s going to be a high-class colt this year, and at odds of 25-1 and 20-1 I think he’s worth chancing even at this very early stage.
25/1 (Now best price 20/1)
With no Flat racing on Sunday and two mundane National Hunt cards, I’m going to dip into the ante-post market, as DUBAI WARRIOR is my long-range Derby suggestion.
He impressed me as much as any 2yo maiden or novice winner last season, and the fact that it came in a class 5 novice event at Chelmsford on a Thursday night in November shouldn’t detract from his promise. Jack Hobbs, Persuasive, Enable and Without Parole all made winning debuts for John Gosden in modest all-weather events in November or December and all went on to win at Group 1 level.
Dubai Warrior produced an impressive time figure and sectionals combination when winning at Chelmsford, and the level to which he ran on that first start strongly suggests he will be making his mark at Group level.
He should stay middle distances as a 3yo; the very best performers of his sire Dansili have been 1m4f horses and he’s out of a Galileo mare who won over 1m1f-1m4f.
There are a couple of question marks; the first is that he’s just one of a bunch of potential Derby candidates in his stable, including top-class 2yo Too Darn Hot, and the second is that his smart full brother Mootasadir so far has only produced his form on the all-weather (albeit has raced only twice on turf), and Gosden has already stated that he’d be concerned about soft ground for Dubai Warrior.
However, I’m fairly confident he’s going to be a high-class colt this year, and at odds of 25-1 and 20-1 I think he’s worth chancing even at this very early stage.
25/1 (Now best price 20/1)
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