York Dante meeting: Lady Of Dubai looks magic in Middleton
Published:
David Metcalf | May 11, 2016
Lady Of Dubai can lord it over Middleton rivals
Lady Of Dubai has some top class form to her name and looks decent value to land the Group 2 Middleton Stakes on day two of York’s Dante meeting (14.40).
The filly posted a very smart performance to make a winning return to action last season in the Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes over 1m 2f at Goodwood when trained by Luca Cumani, travelling strongly throughout and quickening well to score easily by 3 1/4 lengths.
Lady Of Dubai backed that up with a cracking 2 1/2 length third to Qualify in the Group 1 Investec Oaks at Epsom, holding every chance a furlong from home before being unable to find any extra close home.
Oaks run stands out
The daughter of Dubawi was also far from disgraced when sixth to Legatissimo in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood when denied a clear run and badly hampered, and ran well to be fourth in a Group 2 at the Curragh on her final start last season.
Such form in those races, especially the Oaks run, read extremely well in the context of this contest and Lady Of Dubai now has her first start for in-form trainer Roger Varian.
The lightly-raced four-year-old also looks the type who could have more to offer and, although Lady Of Dubai has not been seen in action for 242 days, the fact that she won first time up last season shows she goes well fresh.
Koora open to further improvement
Journey and Beautiful Romance, who finished second and third respectively to Simple Verse in a Group 1 contest at Ascot when last seen in action, command plenty of respect on that run but Koora may well emerge as the biggest danger to Lady Of Dubai.
The Luca Cumani trained filly showed progressive form throughout last season when winning two of her six starts, rounding off the campaign with a career-best effort when landing the Group 3 St Simon Stakes at Newbury.
Koora travelled strongly throughout on the heels of the leaders and, after being produced to lead at the furlong marker on had to be driven out by jockey Jamie Spencer to comfortably beat Melodius by 1 1/2 lengths.
Although that form falls short of what some of her rivals have achieved, the manner of the success suggested that Koora needed keeping firmly onside.
The daughter of Pivotal looks the type who will do even better as a four-year-old, and Cumani has enjoyed tremendous success with similar types over the years.
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Coral’s top tip: Lady Of Dubai has some top class form in the book and looks worth a wager to make her first start for Roger Varian a winning one. Koora remains unexposed and is capable of running a huge race.
