HERE are Mike de Kock’s comments for weekend runners at Meydan:

Thursday 31 January:

Race 3: Faith and Fortune, 1400m om turf
“He was disappointing in his dirt debut for us, but he clearly didn’t enjoy the Meydan dirt surface. He works well on turf, we’re expecting something better tonight, don’t leave him out of anything.”

Race 6: Light The Lights and Astronomer, 2000m on turf
“Light The Lights is well exposed, it’s his third run after a rest and he’s very fit, should run well. Astronomer is a stayer we acquired from Coolmore, he looks like a nice horse, I like his form and he has definite potential. He had one or two issues we’ve sorted out and we’ll be aiming him at the Carnival’s stayers’ features.  He’s very fresh, he should run well but whatever happens he will improve for this run.”

Bold Rex.

Race 7: Baroot and Bold Rex, 1600m turf
“Baroot is well up in the ratings now, we don’t know whether he has improved the extra 6lb from his last win to be a factor here, but he is a game horse and being by Dubawi he has improved with age and is still improving so he can’t be discounted. We fancied Bold Rex to go close last time, but he had to be scratched due to a minor injury which set him back about 5 days. I don’t believe he has been affected by the interruption, he is well and at the weights he should be all over them tonight.”

Saturday, 2 February:

Race 2: Pertinacious, 2000m on dirt
“Pertinacious has been very disappointing, we have gelded him and we’re hoping for improvement.”

Race 5, Conclusion, 1800m on turf
“He’s a bit one-paced, will probably need this run to get him to peak fitness.”