Hand-picked for victory

CLOSE-UP : Godolphin Racing's most celebrated team flies in from Dubai tomorrow with a new trainer on board. Sue Montgomery reports

The wind from the desert blows in tonight, and it may yet whip up a storm on Newmarket Heath. At dawn tomorrow three plane-loads of horses from Dubai will touch down in Britain, the latest challengers for racing's top prizes from Sheikh Mohammed's phenomenally successful Godolphin operation.

Last year's contingent swept almost all before them, lending an instant justification to their owner's innovative policy of wintering his elite runners in a warm environment and giving them individual training programmes. The class of 1996 include the colt Mark Of Esteem and the filly Bint Shadayid, a pair to the forefront of the betting on next weekend's 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas.

The Classic candidates are a fresh crop, and accompanying them will be another new kid on the Godolphin block, Tom Albertrani. Following the departure of Jeremy Noseda, who set himself up in California, the 38-year- old New Yorker has taken over as right-hand man to the Dubai trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, a pivotal role in what has become - and please excuse the pun - a well-oiled machine.

Albertrani's background is on the training tracks of North America, where horses work on regular left-handed dirt ovals against the clock, and he will undoubtedly find the preparation of thoroughbred athletes on Newmarket's wide-open grassy spaces a different challenge. One man with no doubts about his ability to cope is his former boss Bill Mott, handler of the mighty galloper Cigar.

Before being head-hunted by the Sheikh, Albertrani was Mott's number one assistant for eight years, and the American trainer will miss him: "He is a top-class all-round horseman through and through, and someone with his knowledge can adapt to a different environment, just as a good horse can. The talent is there, and I am sure the Godolphin men have made the right choice. I am very sorry to lose Tom, he's been part of our team for a long while. But I understand that this is a tremendous opportunity for him to move forward and to broaden his experience."

In an outfit such as Godolphin, Albertrani is likely to fit in well. Under the rule of the Sheikh, the crown prince and defence minister of Dubai, the emphasis is put on the efforts of the team rather than of the individual. "He's a low-key sort of fella, very likeable, but not a person to push himself forward," Mott added. "He just gets on with his job quietly, and competently."

Albertrani was brought up in the New York suburb of Valley Stream, not far from Belmont Park racetrack. With an uncle who was a trainer, he began walking horses after exercise in his early teens, and later rode as a jockey for several seasons. It was in one of the barns at Belmont that he met his wife, Fonda, the more outgoing half of the partnership and a top-class rider. She has been the regular partner of Cigar in his work for the past two years.

They will clap eyes on Newmarket, the small Suffolk town that has been a centre for British racing since before New York was named, for the first time tomorrow morning. But for Mark Of Esteem, priced at 8-1 for the 2,000 Guineas, it will be like coming home. He started his two-year-old career with Henry Cecil, just over the brow of Bury Hill from the Godolphin Newmarket base at Moulton Paddocks.

Indeed, it was the little white-faced bay who unknowingly sparked last year's famous - or perhaps infamous - split between Mohammed and Cecil. The Sheikh took exception to not being put fully in the picture about an injury to one of the colt's elegant black knees, and the rest became very public history.

The match between Mark Of Esteem and Cecil's Guineas candidate, the Saudi- owned Storm Trooper, will have plenty of needle to it. On his bare form, Mark Of Esteem is entitled to take high rank in the betting: on his debut last July he ran Alhaarth to a neck, and then won his next - and only other - race at a canter. That knee problem then prevented him from showing what further progress was possible, but he has apparently made a full recovery during his winter holiday.

The advantage that a horse derives from being part-trained in the Gulf is not to be trifled with, and Mark Of Esteem, who should have no problem staying a mile, must be accorded respect in Saturday's Classic, despite his inexperience in the top league and the fact that he is pitched into what looks an extremely competitive - even vintage - race, with five Group 1 winners likely to be in the field. But he looked in tremendous nick when the Sheikh showed him off to journalists last month, if somewhat light of bone and scope.

But the extent of the Dubai factor is impossible to quantify. Horses, like any athletes - you would be hard pressed to find a world-class example of the two-legged variety who winters in Britain - undoubtedly benefit from doses of ultra-violet, and that aspect may be especially marked after our cold, late spring. And it is not only the sun that may give the Godolphin horses an edge. They are a hand-picked squad, and each enjoys a tailored training programme and lavish individual attention by hand-picked staff, from Albertrani down. A horse such as last year's flag-bearer, Lammtarra, a light-framed type who was nursed back from near-death to win the Derby and two other championship races, would be particularly likely to have benefited from the intensive-care regime; Mark Of Esteem, with his dicky knee, may be another.

The racing world is waiting, with some trepidation and no little concern (for monopolies can get boring), to see if the magic carpet ride can continue and equal or exceed the nine top-level races that the operation won last year. Mark Of Esteem will step out on to the Rowley Mile on Saturday with the hopes, rather than expectations, of his connections riding on his back. Last season's act will be hard to follow - for Godolphin and for Albertrani.

2,000 Guineas: Case for the opposition

Alhaarth (Trained by Dick Hern)

The favourite, but fell from grace after losing to Beauchamp King 10 days ago. Will strip sharper this time and have the assistance of a pacemaker, and would not be the first to bounce back from defeat in a Guineas trial. 13-8

Beauchamp King (John Dunlop)

Dethroned Alhaarth in the Craven Stakes, and did it a shade comfortably. Rather edgy in temperament but has a high cruising speed and can quicken where it counts. As he, too, is likely to improve, he should confirm the form. 5-2

Danehill Dancer (Neville Callaghan)

Big, strong horse with a lot of speed, who looked as if he would improve on his Greenham win. Fast ground would be against him, and has already been well beaten by Alhaarth. 8-1

Regiment (Richard Hannon)

Looked scopey but backward when a ready winner of Kempton's trial, and with another month under his girth may be the each-way value. His trainer has won three previous Guineas. 25-1

Royal Applause (Barry Hills)

High-class, speedy 2-year-old, but untried over further than six furlongs and there must be doubts about stamina. Seasonal debut on Saturday. 12- 1

Storm Trooper (Henry Cecil)

Looked very fit when runaway winner over nine at Newmarket 10 days ago. Outclassed opposition then and is on the upgrade, but has not yet tackled Group company. 10-1