No fewer than six Scandinavian horses, two of which are from Oscar Berneklint’s stable, are on the starting lists for Friday’s races at the Meydan track in Dubai.
Oscar Berneklint’s two three-year-olds Nocutsnobuts and Surpreme Shine meets horses of the same age in the Al Wasl Stakes, a showdown over a fast 1,200 meters on the straight grass track. At the end of October, Nocutsnobuts won the Manoustie Run over the same distance at Jägersro. On Friday, it will be Sandro De Paiva riding the El Kabeir offspring. Rebecca Stålhandske sits on the mare Surpreme Shine, who foaled her maidenship at Klampenborg in early September.
The resistance does not look easy on paper. Topping the field is Words of Truth, trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick. The Lope De Vega scion won the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury in September.
Norwegian head coach Niels Petersen has already managed to make a handful of starts at Meydan, although without any advanced placements. On Friday, he saddles out two horses. The Danish-bred stallion Doc Holliday goes out in a three-year-old maiden over 1,600 meters on the dirt track. Later in the evening, four-year-olds start Mr Pirelli in a handicap over fast 1,000 meters on the grass. Both horses are ridden by Carlos Lopez.
Bent Olsen-trained Great Wish was second in both the Challenge Stakes (L) and Zawawi Sprint Cup (L) last season. On Friday, he is one of the higher weighted horses in a 1,200 meter long handicap on the dirt track. The five-year-old Irish import gets top British jockey Kieran Shoemark in the saddle.
From Veronika Janova’s stable Denmark comes Dark Streamwho together with Maikel Narvaez Bravo starts in the evening’s opening handicap. The six-year-old, who was mainly trained by Flemming Paulsen last year, has already made two starts at Meydan.
> Full start lists and results from Dubai are available at emiratesracing.com
