Trainer Tom Clover is targeting a huge international double on Saturday week, with stable stars Al Nayyir and Rogue Lightning being prepared for big-race assignments in Dubai and America respectively.
French recruit Al Nayyir enjoyed an excellent first season for Clover, finishing a close second to Vauban in the Lonsdale Cup at York before winning Newmarket’s Rose Bowl by eight lengths.
Having rounded off his 2024 campaign with a creditable effort behind Kyprios on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot, Al Nayyir headed to Saudi Arabia for his return to action and finished fifth in the Red Sea Turf Handicap, a race in which he placed fourth last year before filling the runner-up spot behind Aidan O’Brien’s Tower Of London in the Dubai Gold Cup.
The seven-year-old is set to return to Meydan and Clover would be delighted with a similar effort on World Cup night.
“The plan is to go to Dubai. All going well, he’ll head out there at the weekend and we’re looking forward to it,” said the Newmarket handler.
“I thought he ran a really gallant race in the Red Sea Turf. He was carrying top-weight and wasn’t beaten that far by some really nice horses.
“We thought there was no pace in the race and probably rode him a bit handier than we should have. If we had our time again, perhaps we’d ride him a bit colder and it might have helped him out a bit, but he ran a cracking race really and fingers crossed he can do the same at Meydan.”
High-class sprinter Rogue Lightning has already enjoyed a profitable year on foreign soil having plundered a valuable prize in Qatar last month.
He too had the option of Dubai for the Al Quoz Sprint, but Clover has identified the Group Two Shakerstown Stakes in Keeneland as a more suitable target on the same day.
Clover added: “He’s got his last bit of work to do on Thursday morning and we’ll go from there, but the plan is to go to Keeneland with him.
“I just felt that while the Al Quoz Sprint is a great race, it probably will be a bit more competitive than going to America and we want to give ourselves every opportunity to go as close as we can.
“For us, as a small to medium sized team, it’s great to have international runners and it will be really exciting to see how they get on.”