Al Mahbooba favourite for Al Ain feature

The formidable Al Mahbooba has almost enjoyed more success in marathon events than the legendary athlete Haile Gebrselassie and she will look to add to those gains on Saturday in Round Two of the Al Ain Marathon Series, an event which headlines a nine-race programme.

Changing hands and trainer over the summer, the eight-year-old has continued to make hay in the Arabian ranks, particularly in the staying division.

Finishing third on her seasonal reappearance over a trip deemed too short for her, the Ibrahim Al Hadhrami pupil made her way back into the winner’s circle with a relatively easy success in Round One over 4100m. Connor Beasley partners the mare, and he was not short of options here.

Stablemate Ss Izz Dubai carries top weight owing to his career-high official mark of 108; a figure he earned over the course of the last nine months and has most recently been faring well in Group 1 company at Meydan.

Completing the Hadhrami trio is Jabalini (Marcelino Rodrigues), fourth behind Al Mahbooba in leg one last time. He did not particularly improve for the step up in trip but was not short of stamina either, so sremains an unexposed prospect over marathons.

One that did show a clear liking for such testing conditions was Al Asayl’s Hakeem, trained by resident trainer Dennis O’Brien. The mount of Richard Mullen once more, he chased home Al Mahbooba in the aforementioned leg one on his first attempt at staying distances and benefits from a favourable 2.5kgs swing in weights this time.

The lone thoroughbred contest on the card is a 0-75 handicap over 2000m and the Musabbeh Al Mheiri-trained Oasis Moon (Bernardo Pinheiro) looks the one to beat in that one. With two placings to his name at the course from the current season, including a third behind a useful stablemate, it will come as a surprise should he fail to finally shed his maiden tag.

Coast Sky may have been disappointing at Jebel Ali latest, but the four-time winner retains potential having scored by a big margin up the ‘Hill’ prior to that. However, the assessor has maintained his mark at 74 and it will take a career-best from him under Beasley to defy the handicapper.

In contrast, Bhupat Seemar’s pupil Green Jacket, ridden by stable jockey Tadgh O’Shea, has seen a sustained drop in ratings since finishing third in a strong Meydan handicap. He has been underwhelming so far this term but could give a bold showing now further dropped in class.

In the 2000m win-restricted event, impressive debut winner AA Lahab returns to gain compensation for a mishap in the barriers that saw him late withdrawn last time. His maiden victory has worked out well so far but will have to negotiate box 12 for this outing.

The chief protagonist in the race appears to be AF Mualami, last seen competing in the HH The President’s Cup prep after finishing second over course and distance to the rapidly progressing Alarqam. That piece of form sets the benchmark, and he will take some beating if running up in the same condition.