Dubai: Trainer Richard Gibson is expecting huge favourite Doctor Dino to ride on his superior experience on race night this Saturday.
"His experience in these sort of events is huge, and experience does count when it comes to such big races," Gibson told Gulf News while watching Doctor Dino train at the Nad Al Sheba racetrack yesterday.
Gibson is upbeat about the stable's globe-trotting 6-year-old horse when it runs in the 2,400-metre turf race for 4-year-olds or older in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic.
Top favourite
Doctor Dino is surely one of the top favourites and he does come in with a huge amount of confidence following his success in the Hong Kong Vase in the first half of December last year.
Doctor Dino has raced six times in top company over the past year and has finished each time within the first three, also winning the Man o'War Stakes at Belmont Park.
Doctor Dino had also ended third in the Arlington Million last summer.
But in the Hong Kong Vase, he was in superb form, producing an exhilarating turn of foot under Olivier Peslier to land the 1 1/2-mile race by 1 1/2 lengths.
Yet another important positive factor going Doctor Dino's way has been the way he has been through the transition since his win in Hong Kong.
"He has maintained his fitness over the winter and I am pleased to be here rather than the snow back home," Gibson said.
Ideal conditions
Doctor Dino has capped his move to Dubai immediately after his Hong Kong win in near ideal conditions.
"He loves training and the preparations have been great as well. We've been building up to this race, and that is the reason we concentrated all our energy for Dubai since January," Gibson said.
But for the moment everything has been smooth sailing for the horse here. "He is in the right zone. He is 200 per cent genuine, he's tough and mentally, he's been feeling really good and we feel we've maintained his health and condition from Hong Kong," the trainer added.
"We are in a positive mood and the horse is in good shape. He didn't let us down last year and we don't expect him to let us down on Saturday."
