Barney Roy begins a second comeback in Group 2 Al Rashidiya Stakes at Meydan

Barney Roy, one of the best European 3-year-olds of 2017, will try to make his mark on the Dubai turf circuit when he makes his 6-year-old debut Thursday at Meydan.

Barney Roy is part of the co-featured Al Rashidiya Stakes, a Group 2 worth $250,000 and carded for 1800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) on grass. The seven-race card’s other Thoroughbred stakes is the Group 3, $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint over 1200 meters on dirt, while high-level European stayer Dee Ex Bee will try to get on course for a start in the Group 1 Dubai Gold Cup on March 28 when he makes his local debut in the listed Meydan Cup.

Barney Roy was retired to stud as a 3-year-old, proved infertile, was gelded and came back into training following a very long layoff in time for a late-spring, early-summer campaign in England. Barney Roy got in two prep races before tackling Group 1 competition in the Queen Anne Stakes, where he failed to show his old spark while finishing eighth of 16. Barney Roy hasn’t raced since and it’s fair to wonder where things stand with the gelding coming into Thursday’s test.

“If he were to bring his A-game, or whatever he does Thursday evening, he’s going to step forward for it,” said trainer Charlie Appleby. “He’s the class animal in the field there and he might just be good enough to get away with that slight lack of race fitness on Thursday.”

Appleby has a second horse in the race, Loxley, while owner Godolphin sends out Barney Roy, Loxley, and two from the Saeed bin Suroor barn, Mountain Hunter and Dream Castle. Dream Castle had an excellent Dubai winter campaign last season but disappointed in a Meydan turf handicap earlier this month and has run below form in his last six starts.

Drafted at 111 and Gladiator King at 110 top the ratings for the Al Al Shindagha Sprint, a stepping-stone to the Dubai Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup undercard. Gladiator King, an American import, made his Dubai debut Jan. 2 in the Dubawi Stakes and won by a neck over Ibn Malik, who is part of the Thursday field, too. Trained now by Satish Seemar, Gladiator King, a Curlin 4-year-old, might well have a stronger race in him this winter than he produced in the Dubawi, but perhaps Thursday, second start back from a sharp performance following a long layoff, is not the time he’ll show it.

Drafted was beaten 1 1/4 lengths in the Dubawi Stakes after breaking slowly and falling too far behind the front-runners, including Gladiator King. His trainer, Doug Watson, said Drafted had minor foot ailments that compromised his training leading into the Dubawi, his first start since March, and called Drafted “ring rusty” on the night. Drafted went from a Dubawi runner-up finish in 2019 and onto an Al Shindagha win, and he rates a strong chance of repeating his success of a year ago.

Also set to start in the Al Shindagha is Truck Salesman, who has a long way to go on official ratings to threaten the top contenders, but marks one of the first starters this winter at Meydan from American trainer Doug O’Neill, who recently sent a string from California for the Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Dee Ex Bee also is a fairly recent arrival in Dubai having been moved by his Dubai-based owners from trainer Mark Johnston in England to Salem bin Ghadayer for a winter campaign in the Middle East. Dee Ex Bee rated among the very best staying horses in Europe during 2019, when he won his first two starts before finishing second three times in a row behind Stradivarius, who was rated the best stayer in Europe, if not the world, the last two calendar years.

Dee Ex Bee’s major objective is the Gold Cup in two months, but bin Ghadayer said Thursday’s start in the Meydan Cup over about 14 furlongs could lead to a race next month at Riyadh in the one-mile, seven-furlong Red Sea Handicap, a $2.4 million race that’s part of the Saudi Cup undercard.