DENIS Hogan will run his stable star Make A Challenge in Qatar next Saturday. The five-year-old sprinter will start his season in the six-furlong Group 3 Dukhan Sprint in Doha.

Make A Challenge was one of the most improved horses in training last season, his handicap mark rising from 66 to 111 following six wins. He ended the year with a fine fifth place finish in the six-furlong Champions Sprint at Ascot, having looked the likely winner a furlong out.

Hogan said yesterday: “The horse travelled on a flight from Stansted today [Friday] and we are heading over on Wednesday. Joe Doyle will ride as usual.

“Doha is a right-handed track and they race around a bend. That should suit our horse, as long we get a good draw. He was won around Galway twice and has always had a tendency to hang slightly right in the closing stages of his races.

“I believe there are a couple of English horses taking part, possibly a French sprinter, and the rest will be local horses. It’s a level-weights race and the ground should be good. Gordon Lord Byron ran in the race last year and his trainer Tom Hogan tells me it’s a safe track.”