Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes

                                                          Mill Reef Stakes Group Two


Group Two contest for the juveniles which usually produces a useful sort who will go onto excel between six furlongs and a mile in their classic season. Recent winners include Excellent Art, Dark Angel and Galeota. This years field includes some familiar rivals who have been slugging it out in group contests all year, with a couple of new shooters adding a new dimension to the picture

Anticipated- Early season speedster who has been on the go since April. He showed enough dash in two early season wins to go off favourite in the Windsor Castle, running with credit when finishing third. His last three runs have consisted of a narrow second to Brown Sugar sandwiched between two slightly disappointing efforts in France. Would be slightly underwhelming if he proved good enough

Cable Bay- Another who has danced a few dances at Group level since winning his maiden without taking first prize. Only ran a week ago when only third of four behind the impressive outstrip and although respected, joint highest rated in the field, the suspicion is he will come up slightly short once more

Complicit- Unexposed type who hails from a yard who is enjoying a renaissance with his juveniles this year. Made his debut in a traditionally strong Deauville maiden finishing sixth as favourite, albeit not beaten far. Went to Ripon next time when beating serial runner up Genuine Quality into second and although that form is way short of the standard required here, he was troublesome at the start and green throughout so can be judged a fair deal higher than the bare result. Place possibilities at a big price

Figure Of Speech- Only entry from Godolphin and well respected on that alone considering their record in these races this term. Impressive on debut when slamming 98 rated Whaleweigh Station by four lengths, he then was perhaps then unlucky when a narrow second in the July Stakes on his second go. Disappointing in his next two starts, he bounced back to something like his best when chasing home Brown Sugar on the all weather on last start. That form is among the best on show and he has to be a contender for his red hot team

Hot Streak- Impressive winner of his first two starts including a listed contest on second start. That was a weak race for the grade, main rival scratched, but he couldn't have done it more impressively. Therefore it was disappointing he couldn't run a bit better when only fifth behind Brown Sugar last time at Kempton. He may have been poorly drawn that day, but he still lacked the spark he showed on his first two starts. If bouncing back from that display he could be a dark horse in this back on turf

Rufford- Impressive winner of a York maiden on debut but slightly disappointing since. Only third behind Cool Bahamian at 4/7 on second start he then was beaten as favourite when only fifth in the DBS yearling premier stakes at York last time. If he couldn't win that he is unlikely to win this, and only rated 92 he looks up against it here

Shamshon- The X factor of the field who comes here unbeaten and highly rated after two facile victories on either side of the channel. Cost the Al Thani operation 420,000 guineas as a yearling and went some way to justifying his extravagant price tag when slamming an over matched field by five lengths hard on the steel. Had to work a bit harder when taking a listed contest at Deauville on second start, 88 rated Quator the only other UK raider was back in 7th, but asserted close home for a ready win. Expected to take the step up to group two company in his stride and the one to beat in my opinion

Supplicant- Consistent sort for Cheveley Park who has won three of six races to date but arguably ran to a higher level in his three defeats. Has been dropped down in class to get his head in front on his last two runs, since his traffic issues in the Molecombe, but needs to improve to complete the hat trick. More likely a place prospect than a win proposition for mine

Trading Profit- Left his debut run behind him when an impressive four length winner of a Windsor maiden last time. Had a few winners in behind that day but the form is held back by the 75 rated second. Takes a massive leap in class here and unlikely to be able to bridge it

Verdict- A race that revolves around Shamshon, with the rest key players appearing evenly matched and pretty much exposed. I firmly believe he can bridge the gap from listed class to take this before aiming for Group One honours before the end of the season. Figure of Speech, who bounced back to form last time, would appear the main threat, with Cable Bay another who looks to have an obvious chance of grabbing a place

1 Shamshon
2 Figure of Speech
3 Cable Bay