Real World all set for Jebel Hatta reappearance this weekend

Molly Hunter
March 1, 2023 12:57 pm

Bin Suroor star has been off the track since Royal Ascot last year.

Saeed Bin Suroor’s Real World will run for the first time since last summer when he lines up in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan on Saturday.

The six-year-old was last seen at Royal Ascot in June, finishing second to Baaeed in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile.

His prior run was another second-placed performance behind the great Baaeed, a three-and-a-quarter-length defeat in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May.

On Saturday 263 days will have passed since the horse last ran and Bin Suroor expects him to just lack full readiness after the lengthy break from the track.

“This will be his first race since June last year, he had a setback and he was out for long time,” he said.

Real World winning the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot in 2021 (David Davies/PA)

“We’ve given him a lot of time but he’s back now, in training and working well.

“When he comes back for the race he will be at 80 or 85 per cent, but he will need the race to improve from it.”

The Dubai Turf at Meydan’s Dubai World Cup meeting in late March is a key date in the gelding’s calendar and Bin Suroor is hoping the Group One Jebel Hatta will leave him perfectly prepared for that nine-furlong showpiece.

“That’s the target for him, he will hopefully come on to be just right for that,” he said.

Of the effect of a gelding operation since the bay’s last run the trainer added: “He’s doing very well, he’s more relaxed than before and I hope it will also improve him in the future.”