Brendan Brackan set for Meydan challenge The Ger Lyons-trained Brendan Brackan is the highest-rated horse among the entries for the first round of the Al Maktoum Challenge on the opening night of the Dubai Carnival at Meydan on Thursday. The five-year-old won the valuable Topaz Mile handicap at the Galway Festival last summer and added a Group Three victory at the Curragh to his record. Another interesting entry in the feature race is Steeler, formerly with Mark Johnston and now with Charlie Appleby. He has not been seen since finishing third to Kingsbarns in the 2012 Racing Post Trophy. Carnival veteran Barbecue Eddie, Mike de Kock's Rerouted and Daddy Long Legs, and Michael Attwater's new recruit Empire Storm are also entered. De Kock's Mushreq and former Aidan O'Brien inmate Battle Of Marengo, now with Ernst Oertel, are entered in the Singspiel Stakes, along with David Marnane's Elleval, who did so well at the Carnival last year.
