Article posted on -  3/28/2008 8:59:58 AM

Herman Brown (image:DRC)

JAY PEG IS BOUNCING SAYS BROWN

South African Herman Brown is doubly represented in the race with Linngari and Jay Peg and, though the former would be the choice on form, Brown gave the impression that he was struggling to split them suggesting that either had a chance of changing his DWC night luck, previously just with places not wins.

"We don't have any barrier luck with Linngari, can't believe he's drawn 16 again,” he said. “But you've just got to accept it. The good thing is that he seems to come right just when we need him to.

"Jay Peg has won a couple of Group 1s in South Africa. His barrier position is also not ideal but he looks fantastic right now and is really bouncing."

Irish trainer Jim Bolger, who runs Finsceal Beo in the $5million Dubai Duty Free, sponsored by Dubai Duty Free, believes that he has his filly back to the sort of form which enabled her to win both the English and Irish 1000 Guineas last year.

Finsceal Beo proved a spring goddess last year, and, besides those classic celebrations at Newmarket and The Curragh, she came within a whisker of making history when just pipped by Darjina in the French 1000 Guineas at Longchamp.

Bolger, still somewhat mystified as to why, after carrying all before her in the early part of last season, Finsceal Beo’s form tapered off in the autumn, has been encouraged by the vibes he has been getting from his stable star since she arrived in Dubai.

He said: “In hindsight, maybe I was over-ambitious last year in going for all three Guineas, but it is better to have tried and I have no regrets there.

“We are in the same boat that we were in before we went to Newmarket last May, and we won’t know if Finsceal Beo is back on song until Saturday, but she has travelled and eaten well and her temperature and weight is just where we want her.

“The sunshine in Dubai clearly suits her, as, despite not yet having been clipped, she already has her summer coat, Last year she was woolly when she went to Newmarket, but she is a month ahead this time around” added the trainer.

“However, what that means is anybody’s guess – carrying a winter coat did not stop Denman and company at Cheltenham recently, did it ?”

Asked if there were any similarities between Finsceal Beo and his globetrotting mare from yesteryear, Alexander Goldrun, who won Group 1 races in four different countries, Bolger replied “class”. Enough said.

Fellow European raider Alain de Royer-Dupre watched Dubai Duty Free challenger Darjina breeze round the track this morning expressing a mixture of optimism and realism regarding the chances of the four-year-old enhancing the reputation that made her one of the most feared fillies in the world last year.

He said of the filly, whose jockey Christophe Soumillon won the Dubai Duty Free on Terre A Terre in 2002: "I am hoping that she is at her peak though of course you cannot be entirely sure as this is her first start since December. It was the opposite story at the end of last year when it was the end of a long hard season and she may have been a bit tired."

Some reservations there, but none on the distance despite the fact that Darjina's reputation was built on her 1600m form and she now stretches out to 1,777m. "You saw in Hong Kong that they were just going a bit quick for her, so this should be ideal."

De Royer-Dupre added that he is hoping that the fillies' owner Princess Zahra Aga Khan will be in attendance on Saturday.

Fresh off a plane after riding in Australia midweek, Craig Williams is confident about his chances aboard Niconero in the US$5 million turf contest.

“This is often the toughest race on the card and this year it’s the strongest I’ve seen it,” he said, “But my horse is the winner of the first leg of the Asian Mile Challenge [Group 1 Futurity Stakes] which is some of the best form we have in Australia at the moment. This is the second leg, so he has a good chance.

“All of the other horses are dangers, but I only have to worry about my horse. This will be his third race this season which has always been the plan. He’s travelled over well and eaten up well and I hope he can run a good race” added the jockey.

Gerald Mosse, lucky to have escaped with only a bruised arm after a dramatic incident in the stalls at Sha Tin on Monday, was brief but positive in his assessment of Hong Kong challenger Floral Pegasus: "I would not swap barrier three with anyone. What more can one ask for than for a good barrier and that the horse is in top form. And he is."

Trainer Tony Cruz also has Bullish Luck, whose career prizemoney haul is a massive US$7million, in a distinguished career that included his magnificent Dubai World Cup third last year. "They have both got their chances but the better post position of Floral Pegasus might give him the edge. "