Reynaldothewizard starts season in Dubawi Stakes for fifth straight year
There seems to be no quit in the 12-year-old gelding Reynaldothewizard.
At an age when many runners have long been retired, Reynaldothewizard will have his first start of the year in Thursday’s Group 3 Group Dubawi Stakes at about six furlongs on dirt at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.
Reynaldothewizard is capable of winning the $175,000 Dubawi Stakes, which drew a field of seven. Reynaldothewizard, a Kentucky-bred by Speightstown, will start from the rail and will be ridden by Richard Mullen.
Thursday’s race will be Reynaldothewizard’s 29th start. He was eighth, beaten 7 1/4 lengths by Mind Your Biscuits, in the Group 1 Golden Shaheen Stakes for sprinters on the Dubai World Cup program last March.
This is the fifth consecutive year Reynaldothewizard has started in the Dubawi Stakes. He was seventh in 2014 and has won the race the last three years. Trained by Satish Seemar for Zabeel Racing International of Dubai, Reynaldothewizard had only two starts last year – the Dubawi and the Golden Shaheen.
Comicas, My Catch, and Muarrab, who were second, 10th and 14th in the 2017 Golden Shaheen, are other leading contenders in the Dubawi Stakes.
Muarrab, trained by Ali Rashid Al Rayhi, and Comicas, trained by Charlie Appleby, were first and second in the listed Garhoud Sprint at six furlongs at Meydan on Dec. 21. Muarrab won by six lengths in his first start since the Golden Shaheen.
Comicas raced in England after the Golden Shaheen, finishing third in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes at York Racecourse in May and 13th in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. Following that loss, Comicas did not race again until the Garhoud Sprint.
My Catch, trained by Doug Watson, was third in the Garhoud Sprint in his first start since the Golden Shaheen.
The Dubawi Stakes will be the stakes debut for Raven’s Corner, a 5-year-old gelding who won consecutive starts in minor handicaps at Meydan last February and March. Trained by Seemar, Raven’s Corner has not raced in 10 months.