The $200,000 Firebreak Stakes (UAE-III) Feb. 14 at Meydan features a rematch between Barbecue Eddie and Out of Bounds, the top two finishers in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 (UAE-II) last month.
The 1,600-meter (about one-mile) race drew 12 other entrants, including last year's United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-II) winner and 2013 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) candidate Daddy Long Legs , who comes in off a freshening.
A 9-year-old Stormy Atlantic gelding trained for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum by Doug Watson, Barbecue Eddie will try to continue the momentum from earning his first graded or group victory in the Al Maktoum Challenge. He got an ideal stalking trip in that race and easily wore down pacesetter Out of Bounds to score by 1 1/2 lengths, marking a breakthrough after placing five times in graded stakes in the U.S. in 2007 and 2008, including the 2007 Ancient Title Stakes (gr. I).
Godolphin's Out of Bounds, a 4-year-old Discreet Cat colt, was making his first start back from injury after a year on the sidelines. He was pressured through the early stages and dug in gamely in the stretch but found Barbecue Eddie too strong to hold back. Out of Bounds was an early hopeful for last year's classics after victory over 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle in the Sham Stakes (gr. II) last January at Santa Anita Park, but then fractured his left front ankle in March and missed the rest of the season.
Coolmore and partners' Daddy Long Legs will make his first start for trainer Mike de Kock and first since a sixth-place finish behind Snow Fairy in the Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-I) Sept. 9 at Leopardstown for previous trainer Aidan O'Brien.
"He has had a few problems but we are very happy with him now. He is sound and moving as well as I have seen him," de Kock said. "He will definitely improve with the run under his belt, but this looks the perfect slot to get him back on the track. He is a Dubai World Cup hopeful."
The 4-year-old Scat Daddy colt returns to the all-weather surface Meydan, on which he stamped himself as a horse to watch for the 2012 U.S. classics when scoring a clear win in the U.A.E. Derby. He failed to handle dirt in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and after fading out of contention, he was eased up on and did not finish.
As a 2-year-old Daddy Long Legs won the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (Eng-II). De Kock indicated that trips to Hong Kong and Singapore could be in the plans for Daddy Long Legs after Dubai.
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