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Dubai World Cup Carnival: Lord Glitters retains Singspiel Stakes

Russian handler unleashes strong UAE Derby contender in Azure Coast

Think twice before you throw away your sneakers, because you never know, they might one day bring the new wearer some luck.

That was certainly the case with French-bred racehorse Lord Glitters, who despite winning four races, was gelded and tossed away from trainer Christophe Lotoux’s yard, to be sold for a lowly 20,000 pounds as a four-year-old.

But that’s the best thing that could have happened to the majestic grey, as his magical story began in England in 2017 when, in the care of Irish handler David O’Meara, he won the prestigious Balmoral Handicap in only his second start.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Over the next five years, Lord Glitters would go on to win seven more races in the UK, Bahrain and Dubai, the most recent of these extraordinary successes coming in the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes at Meydan on Friday, where he produced a sparkling performance to defend the race for the second time in two years.

This at the ripe old age of nine, where he upstaged younger horses, including the highly-regarded Charlie Appleby-trained Royal Fleet and Zakouski.

Daniel Thudhope, who was onboard when Lord Glitters won the Balmoral, and has since ridden him in most of his races, could not conceal his feelings and said: “Its quite emotional, especially with this horse. It means a lot to me and the team. He’s just as enthusiastic (as he ever). To be honest we thought that he might need his first run in Dubai (when 4th) and we were very happy for him. So, we knew there was a bit more improvement to come. They went a nice even gallop before me. He travelled so nicely into the race as he does that. I knew he was going to finish off well. He’s a real stable star.”

Earlier in the evening, Russian raider Azure Coast provided the international appeal to the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which was staging its fifth meeting since it began on January 14.

And for the second time in as many runs, Azure Coast came from out of the skies this time to win the 2022 renewal of the UAE 2,000 Guineas Presented By Race of Creativity, in emphatic fashion.

Ridden with supreme confidence by championship hopeful Antonio Fresu, the American-bred son of prolific Kentucky stallion Street Sense, was delivered from the back of the 14-runner field to score by two lengths from Brazilian raider, Kiefer ridden by Uruguayan rider Hector Lazo.

“This is a very good horse, I’ve been helping them (connections) at lot in the morning. Stupid of me I didn’t chose to ride him last time as I thought seven furlongs was way too short. But last time he showed even over seven that he has lot of ability,” said Antonio Fresu.

Winning handler Pavel Vashchenko, from Moscow revealed the plan that he hatched to come to Dubai. “We never raced here and this is one of the best racetracks in the world, so it was always the dream to come and race here,” he said.

“We were specifially preparing our horses to campaign them in Dubai. It’s a huge honour to win a race like the UAE 2,000 Guineas, it’s very special. He’s still a young horse and if the horse is definitely in for that (the UAE Derby).”

Meanwhile, there were the now customary victories for twin Godolphin handlers Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor, with Global Storm and Storm Damage respectively.

The former took out the Race Of Future Handicap, while the latter swept home a hugely impressive winner for Pat Cosgrave in the Business Bay Challenge Presented By Race Of Possibilities.

Cosgrave, who delivered a masterly ride aboard Storm Damage, said: “He’s a very smart horse but he’s not straightforward he’s a bit quirky. He’s very keen but he keeps going which not many do. It was a good performance. He won off a 108 today, which was impressive. Next step is to get him back into Group company.”

Saeed bin Suroor, added: “He’s a horse with a lot of speed, so we will probably drop him back to 1200 metres. We’ll see how he comes out of the race and then look at perhaps Super Saturday.”

The meeting began with the Purebred Arabian Mazrat Al Ruwayah Presented By Race of Inspiration, which went to the Ernst Oertel-trained Al Alajal, who may have booked his ticket to the Dubai Kahayla Classic on Dubai World Cup night.

Winning jockey Tadhg O’Shea, commented: “As a young horse he was quite nervous but he’s got better with racing and he’s beautifully trained by Ernst. He’s got a lot of raw ability, but we never got him into a race because of his mark. We wanted him high to take on the better horses he’ll have a rating tonight that’s for sure. I said to Ernst he does what he does in the mornings. He’s a horse that you have to keep it simple with him he’s a strong traveller. I had a lovely seat sitting on him turning in and just had to fill him up hot a little breather an its onwards and upwards now. And come back here for the Kahayla Classic next month.”