Meydaan given World Cup aim after Super Saturday success

A bid for glory in the Dubai World Cup is on the cards for one-time Melbourne Cup hope turned exciting dirt convert Meydaan after he excelled on Super Saturday.

The feature Meydan card – which went ahead despite air strikes taking place across the Middle East – saw the father and son team of Simon and Ed Crisford become the centre of attention, recording a treble in three of the evening’s feature races.

It was the appropriately named Meydaan who was the star of the show when winning the Group Two Al Maktoum Classic on his first start on dirt, with the Crisfords now hoping he can go one better than 2023 runner-up Algiers in the World Cup itself on March 28.

“It was great evening and all of the horses performed exceptionally,” said Ed Crisford.

“Meydaan winning on the dirt was fantastic and it was a little bit of a punt, but he had been training so well on that surface.

“The way he travelled was exceptional and then he turned into the straight and picked up really well. We were very pleased and it’s a ‘win and you’re in’ for World Cup night and hopefully we go there with a squeak.

“The field will be much stronger and Forever Young will be tough to beat. He’s got to step up a level, but that was his first run on dirt and there is no reason why he can’t improve again when having his second run on the surface.”

Meydaan’s appearance on World Cup night represents a remarkable change in tack for a horse who contested the Melbourne Cup as recently as November and made his first two outings in Dubai over a mile and three-quarters and on turf.

Crisford went on: “It was only the few months ago he was running in the Melbourne Cup and it is just interesting as the more he was out here the more he was training on the dirt and each day we saw him he seemed to be enjoying it more and more.

“He had a gallop on it and looked so comfortable on it and each horse is different, some take to it, some don’t – he definitely has and 100 per cent we can have some fun with him in these big dirt races around the world. For now we’ll try to make World Cup night our goal, for sure.”

Joining Meydaan on World Cup night could be another Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum-owned runner in Quddwah, who put himself in line for a shot at the Dubai Turf when impressing in the hands of Ryan Moore in the Singspiel Stakes.

That was the six-year-old’s second victory at Meydan this winter, with Crisford – who described himself as “fairly relaxed” while many of his training compatriots were left stranded in the region due to airspace closures – was thrilled to see the consistent performer continue to thrive.

Crisford explained: “Things didn’t go as planned at Abu Dhabi (Gold Cup) which can happen in horse racing, but back at Meydan in a smaller field the plan was to be very dominant and Saturday’s performance was fantastic.

“There was no pace in the race early and Ryan had him in the right position. He picked up really well and saw out the extra furlong super well.

“The reason you are here is to see if you can get these horses to World Cup night and if they can pick up some wins and prize-money along the way then that’s great. As long as he’s OK he will be going there.”

Rounding off the evening for the Crisford combination was regally-bred, Coolmore-owned colt Title Role, who announced himself as a potential Classic hopeful back on home soil with a taking performance in the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas.

Crisford said: “He’s a lovely horse and an exciting one for the summer. There’s nothing else here for three-year-olds on the turf so he will be back over to Europe and we will make a plan from there.

“He could be a horse for the Greenham and it could be interesting to see him at Newbury, but we’ll have to speak with Coolmore and see how the horse travels back before we confirm plans – if he could replicate what last year’s winner (Ruling Court) of this race achieved you wouldn’t be disappointed.”