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Jockey Mickael Barzalona, winner of forty Group 1 races across five jurisdictions, is hoping to add to his already impressive tally with Facteur Cheval in the Group 1 Maktoum Challenge at Meydan Racecourse on 24 January.
The Maktoum Challenge will represent latest instalment in a successful partnership between Barzalona and the gelding, combining this season to notch up placings in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in Paris.
Trainer Jerome Reynier has already tasted success in the United Arab Emirates, courtesy of his five-year-old, who was victorious in the Group 1 Dubai Turf at Meydan earlier this year.
In an interview given to the Dubai Racing Club, Barry Irwin of owner Team Valor International commented: "Maxime Guyon rode him to win the Dubai Turf and we have the utmost respect for him. However, dirt is a new game for our boy and Mickael has won the Maktoum Challenge four times, so he has the experience and expertise for the job."
Dirt represents an entirely new challenge for the high-class son of Ribchester. The Dubai contest will serve as a trial for a further Middle East campaign, with the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup being highlighted as possible targets pending a good performance.
If he fails to take to the surface, connections have indicated that a defence of his Dubai Turf title is on the cards; a race which Team Valor hold a remarkable track record in.
Ipi Tombe, who was acquired by Barry Irwin for the Team Valor operation from South Africa, was a popular winner of 2003's Dubai Turf – a performance which earned him the title of UAE Horse of the Year. Their Kentucky Derby hero Animal Kingdom was also a record-breaking victor of the Dubai World Cup in 2013, becoming the first Kentucky Derby winner to land a Group 1 race at the age of five.