Jonquil all set for Abu Dhabi Gold Cup bid

Andrew Balding’s Jonquil will break from stall nine as the likely market leaders for Saturday’s $1 million Abu Dhabi Gold Cup all received high numbers in the gate at Thursday’s barrier draw.

Last season’s Greenham Stakes winner, who was narrowly denied in the French 2000 Guineas and went on to land the Group Two Celebration Mile at Goodwood, has looked in very good form training at Meydan.

His chances are boosted by the fact that as he showed in 2025 he operates well following a winter break and he is versatile in terms of ground preference.

Balding’s wife Anna Lisa arrived in Dubai on Thursday, and after supervising Jonquil at Meydan on Friday said: “He’s just had a canter on the track and looks very well. He’s strong in himself and had eaten well since his arrival.”

Jonquil is by Lope De Vega, a stallion whose progeny tend to enjoy some cut in the ground, but Balding is mindful of the fact the racecourse has been continually well watered and added: “Through his campaign last year the ground conditions didn’t ever compromise him or play a part in the level of his performances. He seemed happy on everything.

“We are drawn nine but that could have been worse as the other better horses are drawn outside him. Hopefully he will get a good position and can go from there.”

In the full field of 16 probable race favourite Quddwah drew stall 14 while the highest-rated runner Maljoom is next to him in 15, Ryan Moore’s mount Comanche Brave is in 12 and Japan’s Strauss in 10.

Ed Crisford, joint-trainer of Zabeel Mile winner Quddwah, said: “He did it very well at Meydan (Zabeel Mile) and hopefully on Saturday he can do more of the same. He’s very straightforward and you can put him anywhere in the race. He jumps well, he’s an old horse who has been around the block and that’s what you need.

“We didn’t want to be too wide and it will be hard to get in from that wide berth, but that’s the luck of the draw.”

Crisford added: “A mile race worth a million dollars added in is really beneficial to the UAE. Obviously there’s top class racing in Meydan, but to have it here as well is fantastic.

“You also have Bahrain and Saudi and it’s a really good circuit around the Middle East to come and have your horses and try to pick up some proper prize money.”

Donnacha O’Brien said of Comanche Brave, who drew stall 12: “It’s a mile which will suit him well. I’ve spoken to several jockeys that have ridden on the track and they are all very complimentary about it, they say it’s a very fair track with a beautiful surface.”

Jane Chapple-Hyam fields an outsider in Crown Board and he is in stall 11. The Abingdon Place trainer observed: “He ran fourth on the dirt in Meydan which was his first run on it and he will have learned from that experience which was a prep run. He’s a big unit of a horse and we always felt he had great ability.

“He’s showed us that on and off. This track’s a little bit tight (for such a big horse), but he has won at Wolverhampton. I don’t think the turns will bother him, it’s just a case of whether there’s enough give in the ground for him.”

Grand National-winning trainer Dr Richard Newland concentrates on the Flat these days and with co-trainer Jamie Insole fields a possible joker in the pack in the form of Witness Stand.

Newland said: “It’s great to be involved in such an exciting opportunity. Our horse has got a bit more to prove than some of the others, but on his day he is very good.”