Betting: 4th February 2015

6.15 Meydan: Captain Lars @ 16/1 VC 

Intriguing and competitive handicaps. The two horses at the head of the market finished their respective races in eye-catching fashion and over 1.400m they would be clearly the ones to beat. However over 1m this may look different as both have stamina doubts over this trip. Short Squeeze is tipped to do much better today, after he needed his recent outing badly. He looks on a manageable mark, having won a tough Handicap off 5lb lower back in the UK last season.

Mike De Kock has four runners in this field and Ajeeb looks his best chance, however as mentioned above, I have doubts about his stamina. De Kock may have a horse going to post with a better chance to get the trip in Captain Lars, who is a previous Listed winner over 1m in his native South Africa. He was very progressive there and had only a handful of starts today. There may well be more to come. He looked to needed his most recent run quite badly here at Meydan three weeks ago. He should come one allot and Mike De Kock voiced cautious confidence for his chance today. Our Channel is another interesting contender, having been Group 2 placed last summer.