Varian out to cap fine first season

ROGER Varian’s Ektihaam bids to show he is as good as his home reputation suggests when he takes a big step up in class in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket today.

The youngster certainly looked the real deal when winning a typically warm Newbury maiden on his racecourse debut and he then ran away with the same conditions race at Doncaster that the mighty Frankel had won 12 months earlier.

He will face a far sterner test this weekend with proven Group One winner Power in the line-up but Angus Gold, racing manager for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, believes the colt is ready to test his powers at the highest level.