Stoute seeks Maraahel boost in Dubai

MICHAEL STOUTE will bid to get his 2005 campaign off to a good start in Dubai tomorrow night when he saddles Maraahel in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad al Sheba.

Stoute's season could hardly have begun on a worse note when he learned last month that stable jockey Kieren Fallon had resigned in order to take up a new position in Ireland with Aidan O'Brien.

But hopes are high coming into tomorrow's race that things can get back on track when Maraahel takes to the track under Richard Hills for a race the rider won three years ago for owner Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum aboard Nayef.