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Today's Racing :

Musir looks hard to beat in Guineas

The $250,000 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan tonight is Dubai’s first major stepping-stone toward the Kentucky Derby, but the one-mile Group 3 race will go without Godolphin’s leading Derby candidate, Vale of York.
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, Vale of York was termed “not quite ready” for the Guineas by Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford on Tuesday.
“He’ll run in either the Al Bastikiya on March 4 or in a turf conditions race the next night,” Crisford explained. Either one of those races would serve as a prep for the UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup Night, March 27, with Crisford stating that “his participation in the Kentucky Derby depends entirely on how he does here in Dubai.”
In Vale of York’s absence, Godolphin will run Frozen Power in the UAE 2000 Guineas. Frozen Power, winner of the listed seven-furlong Prix de la Huderie at Deauville in August, finished well to finish second, a neck behind Musir, in the seven-furlong UAE 2000 Guineas Trial on Feb. 4.
But on that occasion Frozen Power received 16 pounds from Musir, who is a Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old, meaning he is six months older than his Northern Hemisphere-bred rivals.
Seven of those pounds were added as a penalty for Musir’s win in the Group 1 Golden Horseshoe Stakes at Greyville in South Africa.
Tonight, the Mike de Kock-trained Musir, who will be ridden by Christophe Soumillon, will carry just nine pounds more than Frozen Power.
Also in the mix are Argentine 2000 Guineas winner Quartier Latin, and Argentine Derby winner Storm Chispazo, both of whom will carry the same weight as Musir in their seasonal debuts. - Daily Racing Form

Late change for Eagle Mountain
Meanwhile, Racingpost report that Crowded House will make his debut on the Tapeta all-weather surface at Meydan tonight when he runs in the second round of the Maktoum Challenge.
However, the four-year-old’s rivals in the Group 3 event will not include Eagle Mountain after trainer Mike de Kock changed his mind and elected to run his Dubai World Cup hope in a 1 600m conditions race tomorrow instead.
The Brian Meehan-trained Crowded House, who won on Kempton’s all-weather as a juvenile, will be ridden by regular partner Jamie Spencer in the Maktoum Challenge II rather than waiting for Friday’s Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort on the turf.
A fair second on turf on his Dubai debut earlier in the month, Crowded House will face a pair of De Kock challengers in the 1 700m Tapeta feature in the shape of course-and-distance winner Mr Brock and Mr Crazy Boy,
the sole three-year-old in the field.
De Kock explained the apparent volte face after he said 24 hours earlier than Eagle Mountain, a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong, would make his Dubai debut in the Maktoum Challenge.
“After a lot of thought we decided to try him over a mile first time,” said De Kock.
“World Cup night is a long way away and the shorter trip should suit on this occasion as he we build his fitness.
“We will at least find out if he handles the surface in race conditions - he seems to in his work. We have looked forward to running him in Dubai and he is an exciting horse to have in the yard.”

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