Thursday at Pakenham sees him in action again

Dubai Moon won thrice within a week earlier in 2024 and is back in action on Thursday at Pakenham. 

A horse does not need to be a superstar to be in the minds of the general public, and this has undoubtedly been the case for the Frankie Stockdale-trained Dubai Moon. The six-year-old gelding has started 2024 in flying form. 

On Thursday, Pakenham will be race number seven of 2024 for Dubai Moon, and we are only five and a half weeks into the year. Despite being kept busy, he is thriving on the workload, marking him down as potentially the toughest horse in training in Australia at this time.  

January 26 - Hanging Rock 

It was back in October 2022 that Dubai Moon had last saluted in a race, bringing in an overall record of just 3/40, but that did not stop him from being sent off at an SP of just $3.40. There was a change of tactics on show as well - the horse had been too keen in recent races when held up, so he was bounced out from a wide draw and sent straight to the front. 
 
Jockey Arron Lynch said there were no plans in place for how to ride the gelding, but having shown some good early speed, he allowed the horse to do things his own way, and after establishing a healthy early lead, he never looked like relinquishing it. It was an eight-length victory come the winning line. 

January 27 - Moe 

Just 24 hours later, Dubai Moon was back in race action again, this time on a very different surface from the heavy ground he had won on at Hanging Rock. It didn't phase him as he was ridden prominently once more. 
 
He had to work a little harder to claim the win, but he and the second pulled more than nine lengths clear of the third. An impost of 59kg was no problem for him - even with only a day between races, sent off the $4,40 favourite, he would reward backers again with his superior attitude and stamina against the second home. 

February 1 - Pakenham 

There were five days before Dubai Moon would pick up his hat trick of wins, up in class to Pakenham, and this time, he would not be sent off as favourite. Punters would quickly regret that as he took up his position at the head of the field early again and never looked like being caught. 
 
It was another wide-margin decision over the second, with five lengths separating them and a further four plus back to the third. His wins have come off ratings of 52, 56, and 60, while only another four spots have been added on ahead of his next assignment.  

February 8 - Pakenham 

Looking for a 4th win on the bounce, Dubai Moon is back in action on Thursday over the same 2550m that he won last week. This is a deeper race in terms of quality, and it will be interesting to see if anyone wants to put it up to him early.  
 
His winning times last week were excellent, given the grades, so that could be the concern that others have in trying to take him on - he sets a strong gallop but can keep going for 2500m. It will undoubtedly make for an exciting watch in race three, where a win would take him past the $200,000 barrier mark for his career. 

Win, lose or draw, whatever happens at Pakenham on Thursday, Dubai Moon has been one of the stories of the season but is one that you will not read much about in most places. While the Group 1 stars are the draw, horses like Dubai Moon are the bread and butter of the sport.