The 2023 Flat turf season begins this weekend with cards either side of the Irish Sea at Doncaster and the Curragh headlining the weekend action. As well as this, Meydan hosts its eagerly anticipated Dubai World Cup meeting. Looking ahead to what promises to be a fantastic Saturday’s racing, we’ve identified just some of the big names back in action. Check this out, alongside an exclusive Bet £10 – Get £20 In Free Bets Offer from Hollywoodbets.
CHINDIT – 3.00 Doncaster (SBK Doncaster Mile Stakes) Evs
Richard Hannon last took the Doncaster Mile with Kool Kompany back in 2017 and he relies on CHINDIT on Saturday afternoon. This son of Wootton Bassett was 2-2 here at Doncaster as a juvenile, landing the Group 2 Champagne Stakes back in 2020.
Chindit kicked off his 3yo campaign with a narrow victory in the Group 3 Greenham last April, and although he failed to add to that in five subsequent runs, he managed three consecutive fifth-place finishes at Group 1 level and wasn’t beaten far at Group 2 level to end the campaign.
That run came over 7f, but Chindit will be far happier back at a mile here and that Greenham victory belies any fears on his ability to act when fresh. A rating of 112 puts him well atop of this field and the drying ground also can be considered an advantage.
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LORD NORTH – 3.20 Meydan (Dubai Turf Sponsored By DP World) 5/1
One of the most popular Flat horses in training, LORD NORTH has danced many dances in his career up to now and gained the second of his two Group 1 wins when landing this contest 12 months ago, pulling clear to score by an impressive 3l.
Lord North was absent since until making a belated reappearance in last month’s Winter Derby, when bumping into Alenquer, who runs in the Sheema Classic here at 3.55pm.
John & Thady Gosden’s Lord North is entitled to come on for that first start in just shy of 11 months and can be expected to have been trained with a return to Dubai in mind, where he will bid to retain his Turf crown.
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MOTHER EARTH – 3.41 Curragh (Lodge Park Stud Irish EBF Park Express Stakes)
Somewhat surprisingly this is a race that the O’Brien yard hasn’t held a particularly strong record in recently, yet they hold a strong chance of writing that wrong on Saturday with MOTHER EARTH.
This daughter of Zoffany claimed Group 1 honours in the 1000 Guineas on last season’s reappearance, and although she was just 1-9 since, she ran notable races in defeat in the likes of the Falmouth, Sun Chariot and even against the boys in the Queen Elizabeth II.
We’ve seen in recent years what Coolmore can do when they keep a 4yo mare in training thanks to the likes of Magical and Found, and whilst this mare isn’t at that level just yet she’s dropped out of Group 1 company here for the first time since August 2020 and if running up to her lofty 114 official rating she will prove tough to stop.
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YIBIR – 3.55 Meydan (Longines Dubai Sheema Classic) 4/1
Charlie Appleby’s YIBIR hadn’t always looked the most straightforward early in his career, yet the decision to geld him made a big difference from July onwards last season, where Yibir went from early season form figures of 342 to post gelded figures of 16111.
His latest victory came in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, where Yibir came with an incredible rattle to run down the classy Broome late on.
William Buick waxed lyrical about this horse’s capabilities immediately after the race, and that victory added further weight to the feeling that Yibir could prove an excellent globetrotter for connections.
A trip to Dubai for the Sheema Classic was always likely to be on this horse’s agenda, so the lack of a recent run shouldn’t be a problem, whilst a decent pace to aim at courtesy of Japanese raider Authority should see Yibir’s late finishing kick seen to maximum effect.
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