TWO STEP SALSA THE ONE TO BEAT IN DUBAI GOLDEN SHAHEEN

TWO STEP SALSA (42) looks a smart purchase by Godolphin now that he's won a hot Conditions sprint on his Dubai debut by three and a half lengths. The early pace wasn't as strong as it should have been which meant Two Step Salsa had to make his move from the back into a pace that was barely slackening. So it's understandable he took almost a furlong to assert. But when he did he powered away to beat the good yardstick Star Crowned (37) clearly despite being eased up approaching the line.

When I use the formula I've developed to adjust for pace it points to this being a top class effort by Two Step Salsa.

This was Two Step Salsa's first effort on actual dirt. But he'd won both his outings on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface when it was producing plenty of kickback and riding more like dirt (it has since been reconstituted and now rides more like Polytrack). So far his only loss in six outings at less that nine furlongs on surfaces other than dirt was his length and three quarter third place finish in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile to Albertus Maximus who is ante-post favourite for the Dubai World Cup. He set a suicidally fast pace in that race but kept on going when headed over a trip that's clearly a bit beyond his best.

If you want to knock Two Step Salsa you could say that he carries his head rather high. This is no doubt why he wears a sheepskin noseband to force his head down. But he seems a most willing runner. Now that he's won over the course and distance of the race he looks the one they all have to beat in the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

HUGE RUN BY GLADIATORUS

GALDIATORUS (43) clocked a sensationally fast time when making all the running to beat his rivals nearly six lengths in the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort over a mile at Nad Al Sheba. On his only other start since his lengthy enforced break he'd broken the course record over half a furlong shorter.

The question now is whether Gladiatorus can last the extra furlong of the Dubai Duty Free. If he can then he is a big player in that race.

My own feeling is that Gladiatorus is a big, muscular pacey sort that won't get an inch further than a mile. The way he backed up from running 11.8 for the penultimate furlong to 12.8 for the final furlong suggests I'm right.

There's also the concern that Gladiatorus could 'bounce' off such a fast effort. Still, it was a huge run and marks Gladiatorus out as an world class performer.

EASTERN ANTHEM A SERIOUS PLAYER FOR SHEEMA CLASSIC

The handicaps at the Dubai Carnival invariably feature a bunch of horse with Group 1 form. So it's hard to win two of them back to back. And it's well nigh impossible to do so when they are run over radically different distances.

In fact until EASTERN ANTHEM (39) scored again last week only one horse had ever won two handicaps in a row at the Dubai Carnival that were a quarter or mile different in distance. This was the brilliant Indian Champion Mystical.

I had my doubts that Eastern Anthem would be as effective over the twelve furlongs as he had been over the mile and a quarter over which he'd won his previous start. But the step up in trip proved no problem at all. He surged through to quickly grab the leader inside the last furlong after being bottled up on the rail with nowhere to go for ages. If he'd gotten out sooner he would have earned just as big a speed rating as I gave him last time too.

The races at this year's Dubai Carnival have been so strongly contested that I suspect all the races on the Dubai World Cup card are going to fall to horses that have already run at the meeting. And of those that have, Eastern Anthem must rank as the best candidate for the Dubai Sheema Classic.

BANKABLE HAS A SHOT IN DUBAI DUTY FREE

I've banged on before about how I believe BANKABLE (39) may well be a Group 1 horse. And I'm going to do so again after his win in a red hot handicap at Nad Al Sheba over the same course and distance he'll be tackling in the Dubai Duty Free.

Having his first run for Mike De Kock, Bankable was not happy with the very slow early pace and threw his head around. But this didn't stop him producing the most phenomenal burst of speed over the last three furlongs to come and win the race. He fairly flew home, clocking just 32.94 seconds for the final three furlongs. The only faster finisher I've ever heard of was Macoumba who clocked 21.7 seconds for the last two furlongs of a slow run Prix Imprudence back in 1995. That race was two and a half furlongs shorter and Macoumba only sustained her finishing burst for two furlongs rather than three. So Bankable's sprint to the line must rank right up there.

When I adjust my rating for pace, it points to Group 2 effort from Bankable. However he hit a rating of 41 when giving Raven's Pass a race last year and that puts this big, good looking horse in with a shot in the Dubai Duty Free.

Godolphin's EMMROOZ (38) ran a big race to chase the winner home on his first run since 2007. He moved smoothly in second and third place early and looked to have made a winning move when he kicked on with a furlong to go. But he couldn't contain Bankable in the last 100 yards. This was a solid Group class effort from a very lightly raced horse that looks likely to win something decent before too long.

MR BROCK LOOKS WORTH FOLLOWING

KIRKLEES (41) was a Group 1 winner at two and earned a borderline Group 1 class speed rating from me as a three year old. He ran just as fast when taking a hot ten furlong Nad Al Sheba turf handicap, picking up ground rapidly late with a very smooth run.

It's pretty obvious from his form that ten furlongs is Kirklees' ideal trip and that, like most horses with a terrific turn of foot, he needs a fast surface. The concern is that he keeps on hitting the same speed rating which is just shy of what's normally required to win a Group 1. From a betting perspective it's also worrying that pretty much everybody now has Kirklees down as a horse worth backing next time out following his run.

The only Group race Kirklees can shoot for at the Dubai Carnival is the Dubai Duty Free which is over a furlong short of his best trip. So I suspect he'll simply be going for another handicap and we'll then be seeing him in big ten furlong races like the Eclipse. He's certainly fast enough to be competitive in such contests as long as he can be kept sound.

If you're looking for a better priced potential winner in the near future then I'd say the horse to take out of this race is MR BROCK (36). I had high hopes for him as he moved smoothly just off the pace in the early stages on the rail. But just after entering the straight he got tangled up in a mess of traffic problems and was forced back through the field before getting clear and picking up again very late to take fourth.

Mr Brock was much the best horse in Mauritius last season, and quite possibly the best horse that the racing mad island has ever produced (racing is the most popular sport in Mauritius and the meetings attract huge, enthusiastic crowds).

Mr Brock did nothing but improve in Mauritius, winning his last three starts impressively. His latest win was a nine length romp in the Group 1 Maiden Cup, the biggest race in Mauritius. In that race, an 11.5f contest, he showed an amazing burst of finishing speed, clocking a faster time for the last three furlongs that the horse most rate the second best on the island achieved over a three furlong shorter trip. And he actually broke the twelve furlong course record while he was pulling up according to one poster on a Malagasy racing chat site.

Most people are going to side against Mr Brock because of his origins. But the truth is there are top class horses in every country on the planet where more than a few hundred horses are raced. Only a minority of the world's best horses come from Europe and America. The Dubai Carnival proves this better than any other race meeting. It has seen brilliant performances from Japanese, Turkish, Australian, Kiwi, Indian, Uruguayan, Brazilian, South African, Peruvian and Argentinean horses, to mention but a few.

In my experience it is very dangerous to under rate a Champion from anywhere. And I reckon trainer Mike De Kock will soon be demonstrating that to the official handicapper in Dubai who has given Mr Brock what looks an absurdly low rating of 102.

ART OF WAR A SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR DUBAI WORLD CUP - IN A SMALL FIELD

ART OF WAR (42) showed tremendous form when he was switched to dirt for the first time for a Conditions race on the sand track at the Vaal racecourse in South Africa. He strolled home by almost twelve lengths. Trainer Mike de Kock said after the race that he was so impressed he planned on putting Art Of War away and bringing him back for a crack at some of the big dirt races at the Dubai Carnival. He stuck to that plan but the horse failed to win in his first three tries in Dubai. Last week however Art f War showed how good he could be when powering away with a valuable ten furlong handicap by over eight lengths.

The step up in distance looked likely to suit Art Of War following a rather remarkable effort that he put up over a furlong and a half shorter last time. On that occasion he was under pressure from half a mile out but just kept on going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Here he did the same. As before his jockey had to work hard but Art Of War kept on responding and outstayed his rivals off a strong early pace.

The key to Art Of War seems to be the number of runners. He's just a grinder with little in the way of acceleration. So it's hard for his jockeys to steer him out of traffic problems. As a result his record is replete with reports of traffic problems.

Smaller fields reduce traffic problems, and for Art Of War the cut off point seems to be ten runners. In fact if he'd got up in the photo last time and another unlucky short head loss plus a half length second when he was bumped at the start had gone the other way he would have won the last seven times he's run in fields of ten or less. He's lost all twelve times he's faced more starters.

Art Of War's wins are never going to look pretty because of the way he has to be ridden along all the time. And it's rather a pity there are no Group 1 or Grade 1 races beyond ten furlongs on dirt as he clearly stays all day. But make no mistake, he is a top class horse on dirt. If ten or fewer runners line up for the Dubai World Cup he is going to be a big player.

Unfortunately for Art Of War, the general consensus is that the Dubai World Cup looks set to be a weak contest this year. So it's likely that the race will attract a maximum field of horses whose owners are trying to sneak a win in the world's most valuable race. But later on there will be other big dirt prizes for Art Of War to win on the East Coast in America where the move to Polytrack and other synthetic surfaces has yet to be made.

EASTERN ANTHEM AND FIERY LAD VERY SMART

I thought that FIERY LAD (39) was a terrific bet at Nad Al Sheba last week because he is such a tremendous performer on a fast surface. Coming into the race he might well have won all nine times he'd run beyond sprint trips on Polytrack or good or firmer turf but for getting upset in the stalls and stumbling at the start when a close third in one race, losing by a head off a long lay off on another occasion and getting beat half a length by subsequent Breeders' Cup winner Muhannak when not getting clear till too late.

Fiery Lad can produce the most phenomenal burst of speed. And he used it to run the two furlongs before the final one at Nad Al Sheba in under 23 seconds, an effort which saw him quickly surge from about six lengths back to strike the front full of running. At that point he was traveling really strongly and must have been at incredibly short odds in running on Betfair.

In fact Fiery Lad was simply powering away from his pursuers - all except one that is. This was EASTERN ANTHEM (40) who came from even further back to run him down late and win going away, full of running. The pair pulled four and a half lengths clear of a big field as they dueled in the closing stages. It was a tremendous performance by both of them.

When I adjust my speed rating to take account of the relatively slow early pace and blazingly fast final three furlongs it points to solid Group 2 performances by both then winner and runner up.

It looks most likely that it was the cut back to ten furlongs which improved Eastern Anthem. Then again he is very lightly raced for a five year old, so it may well be that he can show the same sort of form over a mile and a half. Only time will tell. All I can say for sure at this stage is that he looks to give Sheikh Mohammed another solid contender for either the Dubai Duty Free or the Sheema Classic.

Distance is also a bit of a question for Fiery Lad. It could well be that it was the 1m 5f rather than the soft ground which caused him to tire at Newmarket. Until he tries a longer trip again we can't know for sure. Though my feeling is that a horse with his turn of foot simply must have fast ground and that he's so big and strong he's bound to improve for the step up to a mile and a half. Seeing how well he's performed on Polytrack and how close he ran Muhannak, the contest I'd be aiming him at long term is the Breeders Cup Marathon, the race Muhannak won last year.

In any event Eastern Anthem and Fiery Lad are clearly both very smart indeed. I look forward to getting nice odds about them to win much better races than this.