De Sousa closes on Dubai title

In the final meeting of the 2025 Dubai Racing Carnival, punters face a challenging card at Meydan today; eight of the nine races are competitive handicaps, and finding winners will be tough.

- Ed Marnane

Former British champion Silvestre de Sousa is enjoying a good spell; five winners in March have helped him close the gap on Tadhg O'Shea, the season's leading rider, in the battle to be crowned champion jockey.

De Sousa has an outside chance of denying O'Shea a 13th title as the season draws to a close.

De Sousa has a full book of rides, and progressive Smart System is arguably his best chance of a winner in Race 6, the 1200m handicap on dirt. Trained by Ali Al Badwawi, the son of The Factor is thriving since switching to Meydan's main track and is chasing a hat-trick of wins.

A confirmed front-runner, Smart System has the benefit of a low draw and will take plenty of stopping, despite climbing in the weights.

It's hard to ignore the claims of Pen Portrait, an impressive winner at Sharjah in December, for Simon and Ed Crisford, who have their horses in terrific form and have already sent out seven winners at Meydan this season.

Owned by Rabbah Racing, Pen Portrait landed a handicap, over the track, seven days ago. An inside draw in stall No 5 should ensure a good position and he holds strong claims of taking his career tally to four.

Lahfaty, a narrow winner at Jebel Ali, completes the shortlist under the in-form Ray Dawson. By Mitole, she's a lightly raced filly and remains open to further improvement for trainer Michael Costa.