3 minute read
Preview of the 2018 UAE 2000 Guineas from Meydan where the Charlie Appleby-trained Gold Town heads the early betting.
The UAE 2000 Guineas takes centre stage at the Meydan tonight as the Dubai World Cup Carnival starts to gather momentum towards World Cup night itself.
The Guineas has been a strong race in recent years with Thunder Snow, one of the favourites for the World Cup itself in 2018, successful last year and one of three Godolphin winners in the past five years.
Trainer Charlie Appleby has been responsible for one of those, 2014 winner Long John, and he looks fairly likely to double that tally tonight as he saddles race favourite Gold Town.
Gold Town, a son of World Cup winner Street Cry, won the stronger of what were two 2000 Guineas Trials this year.
He ran almost a full second quicker than the winner of the second division of the trial, El Chapo, who also lines up in the Guineas itself.
It wasn't just the time that has Gold Town, and the heat that he won, looking the stronger of the two. Gold Town is bred to relish the dirt and he looked to do just that, storming away with the race when William Buick asked him to do so, finishing just as quickly as the other division despite having run faster time overall.
He was easing down at the finish with the race completely in his keeping and it's very hard to see, barring incident, Gold Town being turned over by any of the beaten brigade there. Especially given that he was having his first run in six months there and can only be fitter for the outing.
So for a danger we have to look elsewhere and the most likely candidate to emerge in this search is the stablemate of Gold Town, Last Voyage.
Last Voyage followed a promising debut win at Windsor with a couple of solid efforts at Sandown and Kempton before being switched out to Dubai.
That he kicks off here against his talented stablemate has to be seen as a positive and his pedigree says that the dirt will be a help rather than a hindrance.
In fact it's easy to see a whole new horse stepping out tonight on the new surface and with a reasonable platform to bounce off he looks a credible danger to Gold Town, for all that the task he faces is no easy one.
Betting value may sit with him on an each way basis with Gold Town sure to be well fancied given his strong credentials.
