JANUARY is traditionally a quiet month in Newmarket, but we will all be tuned in to Dubai on Thursday to watch Fareer make his long-awaited reappearance in a mile handicap on the grass at Meydan.
Ed said:"Fareer did not travel over that well, which was initially a concern, but he has since settled in nicely in the International Barn and, while it will be his first race since the Summer Mile at Ascot last July, the team out there are happy with him and he is ready to roll."
"Fareer is a quality horse. He won the Britannia at Royal Ascot two years ago and the Hambleton at York last season, but Dubai has been in our minds for some time so we have purposely kept him fresh."
Ed stressed that stable-star Snow Fairy, who is being aimed at the $10m Dubai World Cup on March 26, would not fly out until early March. He added:"She looks to have enjoyed her winter holiday and has just started exercise again, doing two canters every other day of the week and we will build up her work-schedule slowly during February."
"The plan is the World Cup but she will tell us whether she will be ready in time and we will see how things progress. I would have no worries about her handling the tapeta surface as she won on the polytrack at Lingfield as a two-year-old, but if we do travel we will obviously give her a spin around Meydan to find out how she reacts before committing to the race."