DUBAI'S Sheema Classic could be the opening target next year for The Grey Gatsby, his trainer Kevin Ryan revealed after the three-year-old was named Yorkshire Horse of the Year.

The Hambleton sensation won the Dante Stakes at York Racecourse, the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly and the Irish Champion Stakes in a stellar 2014 - making him the unanimous choice of racing journalists to receive the prestigious gong at the Go Racing In Yorkshire Annual Awards Lunch, held at the Knavesmire track.

Speaking after being presented with a framed photograph of the colt's achievements, along with owner Frank Gillespie, Ryan indicated the mile-and-a-half Sheema Classic, staged on Dubai World Cup night in March, would probably be the first port of call for his stable star in 2015.

"The plan is to go to Dubai," he said. "He will have an entry in the Sheema Classic and the Duty Free. If he does go to Dubai, he will probably then go straight to (Royal) Ascot and then come to York in August for the Juddmonte International.

"Then we would go back for the Irish Champions Stakes."

Reflecting on a wonderful year, Sutton Bank-based Ryan nominated the Irish Champion Stakes - where The Grey Gatsby defeated the red-hot Ballydoyle favourite Australia - had been his favourite moment.

He added: "I thought in Ireland he was awesome. As the year was going on, he was getting stronger. He was maturing. He has been back with us two weeks now and he has grown and he is a lot stronger again and we are extremely looking forward to this year."

Asked whether The Grey Gatsby had been given the wider credit he deserved, with excuses made for the performance of other horses in the Dante, negatives about his run on soft ground in the Grand Prix de Paris in July and about the ride Joseph O'Brien gave Australia at Leopardstown in September, Ryan said: "When we took him back to France, on deep ground, he was beaten and everyone said 'that's the form'.

"In Ireland, he beat Australia and - at the same time - Joseph O'Brien got blamed for the ride on Australia. Everyone forgets that Ryan Moore had to go very wide on The Grey Gatsby when they straightened up.

"Ryan was very confident that day. He just said he was going to keep him in his comfort zone. He's a very comfortable horse."