Hot Rod Charlie, Lord Glitters among top horses for Dubai World Cup Carnival

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Grade I winner Hot Rod Charlie is among horses from 17 countries who have been invited to compete at the 18th edition of the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which gets underway on Thursday, January 13.

Winner of the G1 $1million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in September and fourth in the G1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Hot Rod Charlie is among 11 nominations for Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill.

Based in California, O’Neill enjoyed a successful spell at the Carnival in 2020, winning three races including the G3 UAE 2000 Guineas (sponsored by Masdar) with Fore Left, who is among the trainer’s nominations again.

Strong entries have been received from Ireland, including from Classic-winning trainer Dermot Weld, who has nominated dual G1 Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song, while Melbourne Cup winner Joseph O’Brien has a pair of Group 1 winners among his invitees; Cox Plate hero State Of Rest and 2020 National Stakes winner Thunder Moon. Joining them on the journey from Ireland could be A Case Of You, winner of the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp for trainer Ado McGuinness, who has also nominated Group 2 winner Pierre Lapin and 10-time winner Harry’s Bar.

UK-based Trainer David O’Meara enjoyed a successful 2020 Carnival, with Lord Glitters’ two wins including the G1 Emirates Airline Jebel Hatta. The popular grey, a winner of the G3 Bahrain International Trophy last time out, has been nominated again and could be joined by stablemate Escobar, making a second trip to Meydan Racecourse.

Epsom Derby-winning handler William Haggas does well on his overseas raids and the Newmarket trainer has nominated G1 Champion Stakes runner-up Dubai Honour, as well as Alenquer, second to Longines Sheema Classic winner Mishriff in the G1 Juddmonte International at York and Mohaafeth, winner of the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Mohaafeth is owned by Shadwell, who have also had multiple G3 winner Hukum, trained by Owen Burrows, accepted while another Lambourn trainer, Charlie Hills, plans to bring over Equilateral, successful in three of his five starts at Meydan Racecourse, and fourth in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint in March.

Scandinavia has enjoyed success at the Carnival in recent years and Swedish-based trainer Susanne Berneklint has nominated I Kirk, winner of a dirt handicap in devastating style in 2019. Norway’s Niels Petersen will return with a string which includes three-time G3 Stockholm Cup winner Square De Luynes.

With entries also received from Singapore, Greece, Turkey, Australia, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, as well as Carnival regulars France and Bahrain, an intriguing mix of horses will compete for $7.5million dollars across the eight weeks of racing.

“We are delighted to have such high-class entries from so many different countries for the 2022 running of the Dubai World Cup Carnival,” commented Stephanie Cooley, International Liaison for Dubai Racing Club. “It will be fantastic to welcome back some real crowd favourites in Lord Glitters, Equilateral and Fore Left, while Hot Rod Charlie was a star of the three-year-old division in the States last year and it will be fascinating to see him develop as a four-year-old.

“It will also be superb to see some countries back at the Carnival after missing a few years due to travel restrictions. We look forward to welcoming back runners from Australia and Singapore after a few years’ absence.”

The Dubai World Cup Carnival begins on Thursday, 13th January and runs until ‘Super Saturday’ on March 5.