Dubai: My Special J’s looking for rebound in UAE 1000 Guineas Trial

My Special J’s, who won the Grade 2 Debutante Stakes in Ireland last August, but finished last in Group 1 races in Ireland and France in the fall, can revive her reputation in Thursday’s UAE 1000 Guineas Trial at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

The six-race program includes the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial. Both trial races are over seven furlongs.

My Special J’s, who is trained by John Patrick Shanahan, is part of a field of 10 in the UAE 1000 Guineas Trial. The race is a prep for the $250,000 UAE 1000 Guineas on Feb. 7. Last fall, My Special J’s was last of nine in the Moyglare Stud Stakes in Ireland and last of 13 in the Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp Racecourse in France.

The 1000 Guineas Trial field has one other stakes winner in More Than Sotka, who won a minor stakes at Vichy, France, last year. Godolphin Racing has four starters, all maiden race winners in England last year – Kosika, Mar Mar, Music Chart, and Shuruq.

The race features an American shipper in Daar Zayed, a maiden race winner at Presque Isle Downs last year when trained by Eoin Harty.

There are three Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds trained by Michael de Kock in the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Soft Falling Rain, El Estruendoso, and Zahee. They are considered 4-year-olds in the Northern Hemisphere.

The South African-bred Soft Falling Rain won the Group 1 SA Nursery in South Africa last April.

In the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial, he faces 11 rivals, including Glass Office, who won the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton Park in England last September, and the Godolphin-owned Simoneer, who was third in the Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury, England, last August.

The UAE 2000 Guineas Trial leads to the $250,000 UAE Guineas on Feb. 14.