Fillies fly in UAE

The weather in the United Kingdom, where I live, has been a little chilly of late, so I decided to head out to a country where racing was guaranteed not to be abandoned due to frost – the United Arab Emirates, under the jurisdiction of that most esteemed racing enthusiast, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum.

The featured race there this week is The Georgia Prospector Memorial, over seven furlongs on the dirt for three-year-old fillies, with a purse of $85,000. It is named after a mare who won six sprint and one route on the dirt, including three Stakes races, earning almost a quarter of a million dollars. At stud she has been prolific, being the dam of seven raced individuals, the best of which has been Makerofdreams, a Graded winner by Wild Again, who is herself the dam of a Stakes winner in Plezayre (KY).

Now to the race in hand. There are eight runners, which will be reviewed in racecard order,

Drawn on the inside spot is Proud Land (KY), who is trained by spurious and ridden by Q Cassell. This fairhill-bred filly is currently 7/2 joint favourite in the market. She has raced five times previously, winning three, of which one was her debut in Maiden Special Weight class and the other two in Stakes. Strangely, her only poor race was in an Allowance race, while all her other races apart from her debut were in Stakes company, although this may be due to stamina limitations. Her best speed figure was achieved two races ago, when she won with a 90 over seven and a half furlongs. Last time out she finished third in a Stakes race over the same distance, her first racecourse outing as a three-year-old.

Next to her is Broken Prospects (KY), a filly by Broken Vow, trained by prophet3 and ridden by H Harzheim. She is currently one of the joint second-favourites at 4/1. She is well-experienced at Stakes level, having competed in six of them since winning her Maiden Special Weight at the second time of asking. Her best speed figure of 89 came last time out when she finished a length seond in a Stakes race over six and a half furlongs. In her career so far, she has won three races up to six furlongs and finished second in four up to six and a half. Her latest run suggests that she is maturing nicely, but stamina limitations may show up over this distance.

Sisson’s Lawyer is bred and trained by worldcup06 and has raced just three times previously. She progressed well after winning her Maiden Special Weight race on her debut to take an open Allowane race. She then reappeared as a three-year-old to finish second in a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs, finishing a length ahead of Proud Land (KY) on that occasion.

Sharona (KY) makes her debut in Stakes company today. She has won just one of her previous races, a Maiden Special Weight over a mile opn the turf. This was her only turf race and since then she has run in three Allowance races on the dirt. The most recent, obver a mile, gave her a best speed figure of 89 when she finished second. A nice filly, but connections don’t seem to have grasped the key to her yet.

Cat Of Kings (SAF) has an outsiders’ chance. Bred and trained by jeremyp, she is looking for a hat-trick here, having previously won Stakes races of five and a half and seven and a half furlongs. This looks to be tbe right distance for her at this stage in her career. However, she needs to improve to have a chance against the more favoured fillies here.

Chic (ENG) has won one race out of five so far, which was a Maiden Special Weight over a mile. Bred and trained by wistful, she has R Sailor in the saddle today. Last time out, she finished third, beaten three lengths, in a Stakes race over seven and a half furlongs, when she gained her best speed figure to date of 85.

Sharmira (IRE) is bred and trained by moussac, and has won two of her thirteen races to date, She has a lot to find here, having only run a best figure of 79 in recent tries, although her latest figure of 65 can be discounted as it was over a distance of nine and a half furlongs, where she obviously failed to stay the trip. She is the outsider in the market here and has B Friedrich in the saddle.

The outside draw goes ti Kithara (KY), who makes her three-year-old debut today, Racin nine times as a two-year-old, she finished the season with a win over six furlongs with a speed rating of 83 on good dirt, although her best rating was 85 when second in her previous race over five and a half furlongs on fast ground. Seven furlongs is as far as sghe has run and the highlight of her career so far was when finishing third in a Grade Three Stakes over six furongs. She is bred and trained by ovidius and has the very capable S L Ledwith aboard.