By Heather Anderson
French highweighted sophomore stayer Brundtland (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) looms the clear class of the 2810-metre G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy field for Godolphin on Thursday. A winner of his first four trips to the post, including the G2 Qatar Prix Niel in September and the G2 Qatar Prix Chaudenay one month later for Charlie Appleby, the now 4-year-old signed off his 3-year-old campaign with a solid fourth in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak at Chantilly on Oct. 28.
“Brundtland brings a very high level of form into this race, having won twice at Group 2 level and run competitively in a Group 1 race on his most recent start,” said Appleby. “He has had a nice break and looks to have done well from three to four. His main target is the [G2] Dubai Gold Cup on World Cup night and this is a prep run, so we are expecting a nice level of improvement going forwards into that race. While the run will bring him on, he is a class performer and his best form will make him very competitive.”
Appleby's other runner, the Group 3-placed Ispolini (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), won a Meydan handicap over this trip on Jan. 17, defeating both Swedish SW Suspicious Mind (Den) (Appel Au Maitre {Fr}) and the MSP Red Galileo (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).
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