One big Saturday
02 March 2015
TRAINER David Simcock is preparing for a big day of quality racing this Saturday with several of his Trillium Place stable stars in action.
David will be in Dubai for 'Super Saturday' at Meydan, while the team will also be represented in two high-class races at Wolverhampton on the same afternoon.
Three of Trillium Place's most renowned globe-trotters - Trade Storm, Sheikhzayedroad and Caspar Netscher - will step out at Meydan, as will Calling Out, a relative newcomer to the string.
The three leading lights have already made their mark on the global stage with Trade Storm and 'Sheikh' having struck at Grade 1 level in North America.
Trade Storm will have his first start of the campaign in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta, a race in which he finished fourth last year.
Past evidence shows that the seven-year-old 'entire' will need his first run, which will hopefully bring him on for the Dubai Turf on World Cup night three weeks later.
Calling Out will tackle the same race and connections are anticipating some improvement for his first run of the year at Meydan last month.
Sheikhzayedroad has been successful first time out in Dubai in the past and contests the Group 2 City Of Gold, over 12 furlongs.
At the other end of the spectrum, Caspar Netscher, now six, tries five furlongs for the first time since his two-year-old days. A Grade 2 winner over six furlongs for David in Canada last autumn, he begins his latest season with a shot at the Group 3 Meydan Sprint.
Closer to home, Halation - who bagged a decent mile handicap at Leicester on Saturday - is likely to face a swift turnaround for the Lincoln Trial Handicap at Wolves on Saturday.
The Qatar Racing colt won by a head in the hands of Andrea Atzeni at odds of 4/1. This weekend he has been entered alongside stable mate Noble Citizen for the Wolves assignment.
Also on that card a fit and ready Victoria Regina should be competitive in the Listed Lady Wulfruna Stakes. She has twice been edged out of the frame in Dubai this spring in Group 2 company.