Endearing Yorkshire veteran Dubai Dynamo will make his 150th racecourse appearance in the feature event at Beverley on Bank Holiday Monday.
Trained by Ruth Carr in Stillington, near York, the 11-year-old gelding will be joined by stablemate Abushamah in the £10,000 Beverley Annual Badgeholders Handicap at 4.05pm.
Dubai Dynamo, who has earned over £350,000 in a distinguished career, dramatically won this eight-and-a-half-furlong prize by a neck in 2014 and will again by ridden by PJ McDonald.
The gelded son of Kyllachy has had a bit of a lean spell since he struck at Ripon last August, but Carr has reason for cautious optimism ahead of just his third outing on the Westwood.
She told www.beverley-races.co.uk: “He’s such an honest horse and, touch-wood, he is very sound.
“He’s got a great attitude and enjoys lots of time out in the paddock rather than on the gallops all the time.
“The handicapper has given him a bit of a chance as he started the year on a high mark, having done so well last season.
“He goes well at Beverley, as he showed when he won this race a few years ago, and PJ knows him better than anybody.
“It’s a very nice race to win and hopefully the old boy can do us proud.”
Five-year-old Abushamah, the mount of James Sullivan, is a relative whipper-snapper compared to Dubai Dynamo and was bought from out of Irish trainer Kevin Prendergast’s yard last August.
The gelded son of Nayef turned in an encouraging performance at Redcar on April 11, when second in a heavy-ground handicap over a mile, with Carr expectant of further consolidation at Beverley.
She said: “We’re still finding out a bit about him, to be honest.
“He’s a very big horse – as big a horse as we’ve got – so it will be interesting to see how he handles running at Beverley.
“If he takes to the track I’d expect him to run well.”
A strong 12-runner field has been declared for the Beverley Annual Badgeholders Handicap, with last year’s winner Rousayan in the frame for David O’Meara.
Beverley regulars Border Bandit (Tracy Waggott) and Hulcolt (Ivan Furtado) are also in the line-up, while the James Given-trained Sands Chorus and David Loughnane’s Muntadab are in good form.
May Day Raceday at the picturesque East Yorkshire circuit is due to begin at 1.45pm with the Maypole Dancers Maiden Fillies’ Stakes over a mile and a half.
Beverley racegoers will now be treated to eight races after the seven-and-a-half-furlong handicap was divided, with the finale, the White Rabbit Apprentice Handicap, due off at 5.50pm.