Petersen hopes Beat Baby will bring him cheer

Niels Petersen hopes for a far happier outcome from this Saturday’s Dubai World Cup night after enduring a traumatic experience for any trainer at Meydan four years ago.

The Norwegian had Timely Jazz enter the UAE Derby on the opening meeting at this state-of-the-art racecourse back in 2010 — a feat for Scandinavian horse racing that is rightly regarded as one of Petersen’s “greatest achievements” on his official website.

Nonetheless, that career-milestone occasion was to have a cruel and bittersweet twist as Timely Jazz fractured his left foreleg in running and never raced again.

Petersen’s return to the track this year brought back some painful memories in the build-up and he even referenced Timely Jazz while talking about Beat Baby’s hopes in the Al Quoz Sprint this weekend.

“I had a runner (Timely Jazz) a few years ago that unfortunately broke a leg in the UAE Derby, so it’s nice to come back here again as it wasn’t the best of experiences that time,” he explained. “It’s very big for us to be here. For us trainers from Norway, it’s a big scene here and just to be here on Saturday is a huge achievement for us.

“It’s a tough race, but he (Beat Baby) does have a lot of speed in him. When you look at the race on paper, it’s a good race with Amber Sky, Shea Shea and Sole Power. It’s the best of the best.

“I hope we can finish in the first six and pick up some money and, if we can do that, I’ll be delighted.”

Norway doesn’t have an internationally renowned reputation in equine sports among the many other nationalities represented in the emirate and neither does Saudi Arabia.

Nonetheless, Ron The Greek could change all of that in the Dubai World Cup, with the Nicholas Bachalard-trained horse representing the Kingdom’s only interest across the nine races.

“The Saudi Royal Family have always had winning the Dubai World Cup in mind,” Bachalard stated. “They had Dynever and Premium Tap that both finished second in the Dubai World Cup when it was run on dirt (at Nad Al Sheba), so it has always been a goal for them to try to win — or, at least, be competitive in — the Dubai World Cup.

“They are trying to improve their racing all of the time and a Dubai World Cup win would put them on the map. They want to be recognised as a force for the future.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com