Tycoon has long-term Dubai aim

Brian Meehan is aiming for a second victory in three runnings of the Dubai Duty Free with his one-time 2000 Guineas hope Diamond Tycoon.

The Johannesburg colt won perhaps the hottest three-year-old maiden of the year, thrashing St Leger hero Lucarno by six lengths at Newbury in the spring.

He was a big gamble for the Guineas, faring quite well in ninth, but has disappeared off the radar ever since.

Meehan, who landed next March’s richly-endowed event with David Junior in 2006, is keen to return to Nad Al Sheba in March and said “He’s done very well and I thought he ran quite a nice race in the Guineas.

“He was a bit sore after the race and we decided to give him an extended break.

“The plan was to go for the Champion Stakes but we decided to give him a bit longer and the plan to try to get him ready for the Dubai Duty Free.

“The three-year-old programme is tough enough and if the owners are committed to keeping him as a four-year-old, what’s the hurry?”

There will not be such a long wait to see another of Meehan’s young starlets, Fast Company, who impressed in taking York’s Acomb Stakes.

The trainer told At The Races: “He is going to run in the Dewhurst (on October 20). We had been considering going for the Grand Criterium but he will go straight for the Dewhurst. He’s certainly one of our best two year old colts.”