Lord Glitters wins a Group 2 for old-timers' sakes

There were some good performances Friday on the Dubai World Cup Carnival card at Meydan, but nothing could rival the sight of Lord Glitters storming down the crown of the grass course, going last to first to win the Group 2, $180,000 Singspiel Stakes.

Lord Glitters, you see, is a 9-year-old. Few racehorses stick around this long, fewer still perform competitively in races of any consequence, and a 9-year-old Group 2 winner is all but unheard of over the flat.

Lord Glitters began his career in 2016 racing in France before joining David O’Meara’s yard in England during the summer of 2017. Daniel Tudhope rode the gelding for the first time in October that year and gave Lord Glitters a beautiful trip Friday. Settled nicely at the rear of an 11-runner pack, Lord Glitters always appeared to be travelling with interest, and given the race’s slow tempo, he was not all that far behind pacesetting Passion and Glory, a pacemaker for Godolphin.

Lord Glitters had finished fourth three weeks ago the first start of his second season racing through the World Cup Carnival, but he finished off decently that day and looked like a horse to improve from the outing. In upper stretch, Tudhope niftily swung his mount off heels to get to the outside, and once clear, it became a matter of when, not if, the old warrior would strike the front. In the end, he prevailed by one length over Royal Fleet with favored Zakouski checking in third. Winning time for the 1,800 meters on good ground was 1:48.77.

:: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more

“It's quite emotional with this horse winning at this sort of stage,” Tudhope said. “It means a lot to me and the team and well done to everybody back at home.”

Lord Glitters won for the 11th time in 44 starts, his victories having come in France, England, Bahrain, and Dubai. Lord Glitters, who finished ninth in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita, could race in the Jebel Hatta on the so-called Super Saturday card of March 5 or await the Group 1 Dubai Turf on March 26.

A week after Hot Rod Charlie won the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2, trainer Doug O’Neill picked up another Meydan victory with Appreciated, who won the $100,000 Curlin Stakes over 2,000 meters on dirt. O’Neill and R3 Racing claimed Appreciated for $40,000 in October and the 5-year-old California-bred gelding came to Dubai still eligible for an open first-level allowance race. O’Neill said he expected Appreciated to race close to the lead, but the gelding dropped to the tail of the field, made a very wide run, and still got home by a neck under Fernando Jara. O’Neill said Appreciated could run back in the Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on March 5.

O’Neill scratched his entrant in the UAE 2000 Guineas, Get Back Goldie, who has the March 26 UAE Derby as his major Dubai goal and could prep for that race on March 5. But the winner of this Group 3, $150,000 dirt race over 1,600 meters still had American ties. Azure Coast, now with three wins from three starts, has a very unusual profile. He is trained by Pavel Vaschenko, who for several years ran a stable in the United States.

Azure Coast, who has Russian connections, made a winning career debut last September in Moscow, of all places, before being sent to Dubai. He won a conditions race on Dec. 16 and was impressive Friday under Antonio Fresu sustaining a long run on the way to a two-length tally. Bred in the U.S. by Emory Hamilton, Azure Coast is by Street Sense out of Divine Rule, by Empire Maker, and he might be a legitimate candidate for the rich UAE Derby.

The O’Neill-trained Positivity didn’t run to form in the Group 3, $150,000 Al Shindagha Sprint, checking in eighth, as Meraas prevailed by three quarters of a length in this 1,200-meter dirt contest. With Fresu riding his second winner on the card, Meraas, by Oasis Dream, continued showing a fondness for dirt, having won both his starts over the surface this winter after racing only on grass and all-weather surfaces during his 2020 and 2021 campaigns in England.

Hot Rod Charlie in fine form out of Dubai win

Doug O’Neill, reached by phone Friday in California, said Hot Rod Charlie had come out of his 5 1/4-length victory Feb. 4 in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in great shape and was on track to race March 26 in the Dubai World Cup.

“I stuck around for a couple days after and got to see with my own two eyes how he came out of it,” O’Neill said. “He’s got great energy and is doing well, and we have plenty of time between that win and World Cup night.”

O’Neill said Hot Rod Charlie could breeze about two weeks after his race and would maintain a weekly work schedule from there.