Sibelius Showing All The Right Signs Ahead Of Golden Shaheen Title Defense

Sibelius was one of the more popular winners of the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Nakheel (1200m, or six furlongs on dirt) and he has not lost the ability to attract a crowd.

Such was the case again Monday morning, as the chestnut gelding - a son of boom sire Not This Time - prepared for a light breeze.

“He's a good-looking bugger, he's a sweetheart of a horse and everybody likes him and he likes everyone as well,” said trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer.

And the trainer clearly liked what he saw.

“Just a little pipe-opener, that's all,” said O'Dwyer when asked what he was looking for just after the clock struck 7am. “We just let him roll down the lane, he dropped in there around the three-eighths and just started two-minute licking from there.

"When he got to the quarter pole, he just kept picking it up. I got him in :23.2 [for the final 400 meters] and just let him ease up past the wire.”

O'Dwyer is looking for lightning to strike twice in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, and is accordingly charting a similar course to last year, since Sibelius successfully defended his title in the Listed Pelican Stakes over six furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs last month.

“Just maintenance from here, I might bring him up here for a jog Tuesday and then gallop him for the next few days,” he commented. “We're trying to follow the same path as we did last year.

"The day of the race he'll have a jog around the jogging ring for about 10 minutes and walk and have a roll.”

Ryan Moore, fresh off a whirlwind weekend of riding in Sydney and Hong Kong, renews acquaintances with Sibelius on Saturday for the first time since their victory last year.