DUBAI // Satish Seemar has had a golden touch this season, winning 20 times. Yet there is one occupant of the trainer's leading yard who is proving more problematical than the rest.
Lord Tiger is a big, hardworking four-year-old who is rated by those who work with him as one of the nicest horses in the yard. But despite coming close on a number of occasions, he has yet to win a race.
Seemar hopes to change that at Meydan Racecourse's second Spring Meet tonight when he drops the colt in distance from 1,600m to 1,400m in the first race.
"He is going to win one," Seemar said. "I really like him and we know he's good enough. He's been a little bit unlucky and we are trying new tactics with him."
Jockey Richard Mullen will be charged with guiding Lord Tiger - who has run fifth, second and third in his previous outings - to his first victory.
"He's had us scratching our heads a little bit," Mullen said. "Other maidens in the yard have won and we haven't thought as much of them.
"We have always thought quite highly of him at home and we expected him to win first time out but that didn't happen and then, the next time we set off and were looking for a bit of pace in the race but nobody took it on, so I ended up doing my own thing and it was West Emirates that ended up winning.
"Then we took him to Jebel Ali and expected him to win there but rode him a bit differently, holding him up and it was probably the wrong tactic. So now we are dropping him in trip to the 1,400m and planning to smooth him along."
Lord Tiger will take on the Musabah al Muhairi-trained Grand Duchy under Wayne Smith, but Mullen counts the runner from French trainer Stephane Chevalier, Prime Preacher, as the main threat.
Mullen also fancies his chances in a 2,000m handicap in which he will ride Radegund Abbey, a course and distance winner last time out. Seemar also saddles Treachery under apprentice Harry Bentley.
"Radegund Abbey is one that we got last year and is based at Millenium Stables where Ivan Pavlovsky is the assistant," Mullen said.
"He has improved a lot this season and won his last race. We expected him to win his most recent race at Sharjah, but he got a bit stuck in traffic and it is such a short home stretch that he did not have time to get going once he got clear, but he really flew home.
"I'm confident with him and he has got to be my best chance on the night."
Radegund Abbey holds winning form over the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum-owned opponent Mushreq, trained by Doug Watson, and will also take on another Sheikh Hamdan runner, Jadal, on his UAE debut.
