Glitters To Shine On Super Saturday
Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) may be a former G1 Queen Anne S. winner, but at age nine he has revamped himself as a Middle Eastern star, and he lines up as one of the highlight horses of Super Saturday in the G1 Jebel Hatta S. It has been almost three years since the grey visited a winner's enclosure in Europe, but in the meantime Lord Glitters has won four black-type races in the Gulf region, including last year's edition of this race, the G3 Bahrain International Trophy in November and the G2 Singspiel S. on Feb. 11.
The horse who finished second to Lord Glitters in the Bahrain International Trophy was another Royal Ascot Group 1 veteran, Charlie Appleby's 8-year-old Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}). Gelded and sent to Charlie Appleby after proving infertile, Barney Roy won this race two years ago before adding a pair of German Group 1s in the summer of 2020. He has something to prove, however, having run just twice at the back end of last season, and it could be meaningful that William Buick instead rides the same stable's Zakouski (GB) (Shamardal), who won the Listed Marshall S. at Newmarket at the end of October and was third behind Lord Glitters in the Singspiel. Zakouski also won the G2 Al Rashidiya S. over this course and distance last carnival.
Different O'Neill, Same Result in Round 3?
The $450,000 G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 is missing Grade I winner and G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who is bound directly for the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup on Mar. 26, but 15 horses still line up in this traditional pointer to that 2000-metre main-track affair. In the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2, the Doug O'Neill-trained 4-year-old blitzed the field by 5 1/4 lengths, and the third- and fourth-place finishers that day, Everfast (Take Charge Indy) and For The Top (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}), return over an additional 100 metres.
O'Neill does send his 'B Team' in on Saturday, as the 6-year-old gelding Appreciated (Acclamation), a veteran of the American circuit, hopes to build off of his narrow track-and-trip win in the Listed Curlin S. on Feb. 11.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Hypothetical (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) will aim to go one better after finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind Salute The Soldier (Ger) (Sepoy {Aus}) in the 2021 edition, while last year's third-place finisher Roman Rosso (Arg) (Roman Ruler) breaks from gate 11. Fourth in the Dubai World Cup last year, Hypothetical was unplaced in the Jan. 14 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1. In charge from the front when wheeled back in the one-mile G3 Firebreak S. on Feb. 4, the result was much different, with the 5-year-old entire delivering a 3 1/4-length win.
Dubai City of Gold Hukum's El Dorado?
The 2410-metre G2 Dubai City Of Gold features a field of 14 led by the Owen Burrows-trained Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Prior to 2021, the Shadwell homebred was a Group 3 winner, however the full-brother to undefeated Group 1-winning miler Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) enjoyed his best season last year with a trio of Group 3 wins at 2400 metres or longer, and he was last seen in action with a 6 1/2-length victory in the Oct. 2 G3 Cumberland Lodge S. at Ascot. Saturday marks his first start outside the UK, and the bay breaks widest of all in gate 14 with Shadwell's retained jockey Jim Crowley in the irons.
It is not purely a one-horse show in the City of Gold, and Niels Petersen saddles Square De Luynes (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}), a seven-for-nine multiple Group 3 winner based in Sweden. He is aiming for his fourth-straight score after taking the Sept. 19 G3 Stockholm Cup International. Ex-Aidan O'Brien trainee Amhran Na Bhfiann (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is also making his first foray in the desert, and the G2 Curragh Cup winner will carry the colours of Mariano Commercial Ltd. and Partners after being knocked down for 78,000gns during the Tattersalls Autumn HIT Sale.
Simon and Ed Crisford's Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who races for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, enters on the back of a Newmarket listed victory, and the top Godolphin chance, Feb. 11 course-and-distance winner Global Storm (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}), is signed on as well.
Group 1 Winners Face Off In Turf Sprint
The most intriguing race on the card is probably the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint, where last-season Group 1 winners Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) and A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) face off against Meydan specialist Acklam Express (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and last-out course and distance listed winner Man Of Promise (Into Mischief).
Kevin Ryan's Emaraaty Ana and Ado McGuinnesses A Case Of You ran in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Golden Pal (Uncle Mo). Emaraaty Ana, who won last year's G1 Sprint Cup S. over this six furlong trip, makes his first start since Del Mar, while A Case Of You returned a 3 1/2-length winner going six furlongs at Dundalk on Feb. 11. He won last year's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye going five furlongs.
Though he has never won at Meydan, Nigel Tinkler's Acklam Express has displayed a definite liking for the course; he finished second in last year's G2 Meydan Sprint and third in this race as well as the G1 Al Quoz Sprint. Off the board in two European starts last summer, he was second in the latest edition of the Meydan Sprint, renamed the Blue Point Sprint, on Feb. 18.
Watson Pair Loom Large In Burj Nahaar
The father/son training team of Simon and Ed Crisford send out three runners from their Dubai string on Super Saturday, and their best chance could be Algiers (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G3 Burj Nahaar going a mile on the dirt. The 5-year-old, who was twice Group 3 placed in France last summer, was a winner last out over that surface and distance in the G3 Jebel Ali Mile on Feb. 12.
Algiers will face stiff opposition, however, from the Doug Watson pair of Mubakker (Speightstown) and Golden Goal (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). Shadwell's 6-year-old Mubakker goes the furthest he has in his career and comes into this off wins going six and seven furlongs on Dec. 9 and Jan. 28. Dale Brennan's 8-year-old Golden Goal was second in last year's G2 Godolphin Mile on World Cup night and won the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge R1 when last seen on Jan. 14, and will be tough returning to that course and distance.
Watson, perennially one of the most powerful local stables, also has a strong chance to close out the card with a win, with Al Tariq among the favourites for the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal going six furlongs on the dirt. The 6-year-old gelding won the G3 Dubawi S. over course and distance on Jan. 21 and was third last out in the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint on Feb. 11.
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