Magic in Meydan!

We had three bets at Meydan on World Cup night. Members were advised......

"1.50 Meydan 

VAZIRABAD was given the softest of rides in his prep race here 30 days ago and Christophe Soumillon clearly didn't want to give him a hard time with this 'cup final' tonight in mind. He made smooth progress through the field on the inside and got within half a length of Rare Rhythm, who was being pushed along by William Buick. Soumillon could have either got the bat out and tried to butcher him home, or retreat. He opted to take the latter approach and eased down in second. The step up to 2m gives him a viable chance of turning the tables now he'll be ridden to win. He's bidding to win this for the third year in a row. 

3.05 Meydan 

With Hit The Bid and Conquest Tsunami both drawn in double figure stalls, the stands side of the draw could be the place to be here. Aussie raider Music Magnate would be interesting if the market vibes are positive. He bids to follow in the footsteps of Ortensia and Buffering in winning the race for Australia.

Blue Point also has a good chance - his is obvious as he's even money now Ertijaal has come out of the race. He ran very well behind that rival in a trial run over 5f and now returns to the trip he beat Harry Angel over in the UK last year (as well as finishing third to Caravaggio in the Commonwealth Cup).

I've come round to the idea of backing JUNGLE CAT at the prices, though. He won the Nad Al Sheba trophy in his prep, just as he did before finishing fourth in this race 12 months ago, but the ground turned yielding after rain on World Cup night last year and he couldn't pick up as well as hoped, finishing just behind Ertijaal in fourth. 

It is interesting to contrast that performance with his last one against Ertijaal over the same C&D three weeks ago. This time, with the ground riding good, he swept past that rival to score by two lengths and actually break the track record. Ertijaal is a non-stayer over 6f but it was still a smart performance and provides logical reasoning to think he's an improved performer at the age of six and could finish in the money this time with the ground more suitable this year. 

4.35 Meydan 

BENBATL was drawn wide and missed the break last time. He had to race wide, with little cover, and ending up covering 13 metres more than the half-length winner as he crossed the line in second. Oisin Murphy, refreshingly, conceded afterwards he'd given his mount a bad ride, but with a better draw this evening and the likelihood of not having to cover so much ground, he's every chance of getting back to winning ways. He'd won two C&D races in impressive fashion at Group 3 and Group 2 level prior to that, sitting up with the pace and keeping on strongly once hitting the front."

Vazirabad was backed from 5/2 into 6/4 and won

Jungle Cat was advised at 5/1 (-40p R4) and went off 11/4 and won

Benbatl was advised at 9/2 and went off 4/1 and won