Eagle Mountain amongst South African's Dubai string

Trainer Mike de Kock has enjoyed significant success at the Dubai Carnival in previous years and he is excited about the 2010 Dubai Racing Carnival at the new Meydan racecourse, which features a new grass track and a new all-weather track which has replaced the old sand track at Nad Al Sheba.

He has a quality string of horses comprising hopefuls for most races on World Cup night and unlike last season at this time, everything is well on track.

De Kock told his website mikedekockracing.com: “Last season we were way behind schedule, the horses arrived late and we had a few setbacks including respiratory problems.

“So far this season has been trouble-free, in fact we are a month to six weeks further ahead than we were at the same time last season. We are very pleased about that and I think we have the horses to be most competitive this year,” De Kock said.

Frozen Fire and Golden Sword join the string from Ballydoyle

He discussed some of the new acquisitions: “Frozen Fire and Golden Sword were among the top major-race contenders in England last season, we got them from Aiden O’Brien and Frozen Fire is the most forward and likely to race first.

“Boss Professor and Jody are new runners from Brazil owned by Mohd Jaber Abdullah, a new patron in the stable. I am not familiar with their track records, they joined just recently.

"Among the older horses we have Wonder Lawn and Our Giant from South Africa, both are doing very well, I like what I have seen so far. The filly Zirconeum is an exciting prospect, she will follow the same route as Sun Classique going for the Cape Verde and the Ballanchine into the Dubai Duty Free.’’

"The young South African horses look terrific and are doing well. Solid Choice in particular has been impressive, he has taken to the all-weather track well. Musir and Mr Crazy Boy are also making good progress, as a trio we are looking forward to seeing them on the racetrack. The filly Raihana has really blossomed and is another we hope will hold her own.’’

Eagle Mountain, De Kock said, would be the stable’s principal choice for the Dubai World Cup, if all goes according to plan. “We’ll give him a run on the all-weather surface and map out our plans from there. The all-weather is a completely different kettle of fish to the sand.''