In bringing their star colt to Dubai in mid-January, to prep over the track for the $12million Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup, the team behind Hot Rod Charlie was following a tried and tested route.
Curlin, successful in 2008, and California Chrome in 2016, both arrived from the US and took in local preps before winning the big one.
Now, Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie has taken the first step along the same road, winning Group 2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 [Presented by Longines Record], over 1900metres, 100 metres short of the World Cup trip.
He didn’t have it easy, however.
Ridden by William Buick, deputizing for Flavien Prat, the son of Oxbow broke well from his post in three and made the lead, but was pushed all the way by Al Nefud, ridden by Ryan Moore. Turning for home, there was a brief moment when that rival threatened, but when asked for his effort, Hot Rod Charlie responded in spades. He eventually crossed the line, ears pricked, five and quarter lengths clear of Al Nefud, who made a fine Group race debut for trainer Bhupat Seemar.
With part-owners Patrick O’Neill and Bill Strauss in Dubai to cheer on Hot Rod Charlie, trainer O’Neill was relieved to get the first part of the job done.
“It’s been such a great journey; let’s hope there are more chapters to come”, said the dual Kentucky Derby-winning handler. “We took a little different approach with him; we didn’t train him too hard going into this. However, we knew we had plenty of time to get him ready for the Dubai World Cup.
“He’s a horse who is just loaded with class. It was a strong field tonight, but William rode him with a ton of class and a ton of confidence.
“He wasn’t really expecting to go to the front but he said he [Hot Rod Charlie] ‘just pulled me there and he was comfortable doing it. The pace wasn’t overly hot and he kicked on when he needed to.
“Next stop; the end of March, for sure.”
Hot Rod Charlie’s win was the second of the night for O’Neill, who allayed some nerves thanks to the success of Get Back Goldie in the 1200metre Oud Metha Stakes [Presented by Longines Master Collection], on dirt.
Also ridden by Buick, the homebred son of Goldencents came with a late run from the back of the field in the three-year-old contest, denying Little Afrodite, who looked booked for first place under Ray Dawson.
Hot Rod Charlie might not have been the only World Cup aspirant to win on the card, as Hypothetical put forward his case with a dominant win in the Group 3 Firebreak Stakes [Presented by Longines Conquest.]
Fourth in last year’s World Cup, Hypothetical was virtually pulled up on his reappearance last month but was back to his best here. Ridden by Mickael Barzalona, winning this race for a record third time, the Salem Bin Ghadayer-trained five-year-old put up a fine front-running display and saw off the closing Strongconstitution, by three and a quarter lengths.
“We didn’t know which horse to follow so we decided to make it (the running) on our own,” said Barzalona. “I’m glad to see him going the right way again. I think he’s a lot more mature now, so he could go back over ten [furlongs] but he’s very professional over a mile.
“For sure, the Dubai World Cup will be a very hard race but we’ve first got to see how he runs on Super Saturday.”
On a brilliant night for team O’Neill, they collected another silver medal in the 1900metre Al Bastakiya Trial [Presented by Longines SaintImier], on dirt. Their Kantaro D’Oro looked like he’d made a winning move under Antonio Fresu but was passed close home by Withering, who was given a patient ride by Adrie De Vries and collected a first win at the seventh attempt.
De Vries passed the credit for the win to trainer Fawzi Nass, saying: “He wasn’t the fastest away, but he jumped a little better than last week. He traveled nicely into the race. I was hands full into the turn and I was just looking for the gaps.
“All credit to Fawzi, because it was my choice to run him in a maiden and he said he would stay, he had a lot of faith in the horse. Good job.”
The Carnival resumes next Friday 11 February when the Gr2 Singspiel Stakes and Gr3 UAE 2000 Guineas are the features.
