GIANT’S Causeway filly Emotif returns to racing in Thursday night’s Listed UAE 1000 Guineas at Meydan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa’s runner will be the focus of many a racing enthusiast following her runaway debut win in South Africa last May.

Mike de Kock has made no secret of the fact that Emotif is highly regarded  by the yard and he said on Tuesday: “Emotif is a very smart filly and we think a helluva lot of her. She had a problem when she arrived in Dubai after travelling from South Africa, suffering from azuturia or ‘tying up’, which kept her out of training for a while.  We’ve done as much as we can do with her though, she’s showing us a lot and we’re expecting her to be a huge runner.”

Christophe Soumillon will take the ride on Emotif in this $US250 000 event.

Await The Dawn (Pat Cosgrave) and Mushreq (Soumillon) will fly the flag in Round 2 of the Al Maktoum Challenge, to be contested over 1900m on the all-weather track.

Accomplished  stayer Await The Dawn (USA), is a lightly raced five-time winner from nine starts, including a Group 2 and two Group 3s in the UK. He hasn’t raced since finishing unplaced in last year’s Dubai Duty Free on World Cup Night and will make his debut for the yard.

Mike said: “This is a very smart horse and he’s working well, but he will need the run. I expect him to do well on this surface and he will improve much with this run under his girth.”

Mushreq, a winner at Meydan last week. (Andrew Watkins)

Mushreq, Mike said, is very fit and well. “We’re being a bit hard on him but at his rating there’s not much we can do. We’re taking a chance but he’s in there with a chance.”

Jardim (Soumillon), has been disappointing so far this season, but he will be having his third run following a rest in a handicap over 2000m on the all-weather. “We’re hoping for a better run,” said Mike.

El Estruendoso showed a lack of experience when beaten 7.75 lengths by Soft Falling Rain in his first run back, a fortnight ago, and the stable believes he’ll show a lot more in Race 3, the Meydan Classic Trial over 1400m on turf.

Mike commented: “He needs more experience but is likely to show big improvement, he should run well.”

Mohammed Khaleel’s Star Empire was beaten only a quarter-of-a-length over 2410m on his return to the track after a two-year layoff recently and he is in good shape for a 2810m handicap this time round. “He’s fitter than last time and we’re happy with his preparation.”

Both Royal Ridge and Jet Legend are expected to be suited to the Tapeta surface in Race 7 over 1600m. Royal Ridge (Paul Hanagan) is preferred, but his stablemate is also expected to have a say, as both are working well.