MIKE didn’t saddle any winners at the second Dubai Carnival meeting held on Thursday, 16 January, but said he left Meydan, “very excited” at the end of the night.

He commented on Friday: “We were especially impressed with five of our runners, who all look like they can win at this year’s Carnival.

Magrooma: Almost entirely obscured behind Wedding Ring in this photo from last night’s UAE 1000 Guineas Trial, but may well come out of hiding next time! (Andrew Watkins).

“Magrooma was uptight and she over-raced, still finished a good second, beaten under two lengths. She has lots of improvement to come.  Star Empire ran a massive race in third in the stayer’s handicap, close up after his rest and he will be fitter next time.

“I think Full Combat ran a cracker in his first outing here, he was just shaded out of fourth place. Journeyman was above himself in his first run back, he needed it and still stayed on well. His work on turf is better than on Tapeta so we’ll be looking for a turf race for him.

“Kavanagh didn’t make the first four but was right on their heels in fifth and there was merit in his performance. Two of the four runners who beat him contested last year’s Gr1 Golden Shaheen on World Cup night and one other ran in the Gr1 Al Quoz we won with Shea Shea.

“Lehaaf was beaten into a close fourth, I think he would have won the race if he had one more run behind him. We’re looking forward to the rest of his campaign.”