Al Nayyir

Al Nayyir opened its account at Meydan back in November 2022 and has been going back there to win ever since, most recently just five weeks ago in February 2026. Four wins from 12 races at a single venue might sound modest on paper, but at the top level of the sport — where Al Nayyir regularly competes in Class 1 races, the very best races in Britain and internationally — winning 1 in 3 at your favourite track is genuinely impressive. Most horses at this level are happy to place, let alone win.

The other clue to understanding this horse is its preferred distance. Over a mile and three to four furlongs — roughly a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half — Al Nayyir has won 2 from 3, a two-in-three hit rate that suggests the yard knows exactly what trip brings out the best in it. Tom Clover trains the horse from Newmarket in Suffolk, and his team has sent out 23 winners already this season, so Al Nayyir is operating in confident, well-organised hands. Clover's operation clearly has the horse placed shrewdly.

Recent form reads 1-3-2-3-8-5 going back through the last six races — that is a win, two thirds, a second, a poor eighth, and a fifth. Strip out the blip and there is a horse that consistently finishes in the money at the highest level. Pat Dobbs has ridden Al Nayyir in five of its races and won once together, a 1-in-5 record that is perfectly respectable at Class 1. After a short break of 37 days since its last run, and with a career that has earned £74,000 in prize money, Al Nayyir arrives at any race as a horse that has genuinely earned its place at the top table — and one that you always take seriously when Meydan comes around.