Dubai Honour ‘vulnerable’ ahead of Via Sistina showdown

Dubai Honour already has a Queen Elizabeth Stakes win on his CV, but handler Isabella Paul admits this year’s renewal presents a fresh challenge for the evergreen gelding.

When the William Haggas-trained star took out the race in 2023, his best form had been over middle distances in Europe.

But fast forward two years and Dubai Honour has established himself as a genuine mile-and-a-half horse on the international stage, as reflected in his last start Tancred Stakes (2400m) victory at Rosehill.

Coming back 400m in distance for Saturday’s $5 million Randwick feature holds some reservations for Paul, who is the horse’s regular travelling companion.

“He probably is a bit more vulnerable back to that trip,” Paul said.

“Whether it’s because, prior to that, we were running against Romantic Warriors and horses like that, and it’s enough to find anyone out, even the best horses. Whether that had a bit to do with it, but he has definitely been more consistent over the mile-and-a-half trip.”

Despite the stable’s caution, Dubai Honour has so far managed to cross every bridge asked of him in Australia.

He captured the Ranvet-Queen Elizabeth Stakes double at his two Sydney runs in 2023 and maintained his perfect local strike rate with his most recent win.

Paul would love nothing more than to see him remain unbeaten in the harbour city and said the gelding had “bounced out” of his Tancred triumph.

“That would be nice, to keep the perfect record,” she said.

“It’s obviously not that straightforward and he’s got an outside draw.

“There are couple of horses in there which will hopefully mean there is good pace and that would also be a benefit.”

Top mare Via Sistina is an odds-on favourite for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) with Dubai Honour on the second line of betting at $6.

Paul is looking forward to the pair’s clash and says it is heartening to see two older horses still at the peak of their powers.

“She is just a phenomenal filly. It’s such a credit to Chris Waller that she is still running as well as she is at seven-years-old,” Paul said.

“I think it’s quite cool to have two seven-year-olds going up against each other and it just shows you they are really, really versatile and how tough they can be.

“And if they still enjoy racing and they can have seriously long, very profitable careers.”

Dubai Honour has raced 29 times and Via Sistina 23 times, the two of them having already won more than $18 million between them.

- RAS NewsWire