- 2022 St Leger winner will have his first outing since last season’s Irish St Leger
- Trainer has been running Charyn and Eldar Eldarov on a similar programme
- Also in the hunt are Tower of London and John and Thady Gosden’s Trawlerman
Trainer Roger Varian hopes the win of Charyn in last weekend’s Doncaster Mile is a positive for the challenge of Eldar Eldarov in this Saturday’s Dubai Gold Cup on the $33.5million (£26.4m) Dubai World Cup card.
Varian’s 2022 St Leger winner was last seen when winning last season’s Irish St Leger and his Dubai target will be the first big assignment of the season for the trainer’s new partnership with jockey James Doyle.
Varian said: ‘Eldar Eldarov is in great form. They are different types of horses but he has been on a similar programme to Charyn because they both had early season targets so him going in hopefully means Eldar is probably ready.
‘We are looking forward to his run. I wish it was a mile and six furlongs because he loves that trip but two miles around Meydan should be fine.’
The $1m (£790,000) Gold Cup has become one of Europe’s best chances on the World Cup card. Previous winners include the Tom Dascombe-trained, Michael Owen-owned Brown Panther, Mark Johnston’s Subjectivist and, last year, Aidan O’Brien’s Broome.
St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov will go for glory in the high-stakes Dubai Gold Cup on Saturday
Last weekend saw Charyn triumph in the Doncaster Mile Stakes to kick off the UK flat season
Trainer Roger Varian has high hopes for Eldar after keeping the two on a similar programme
O’Brien runs Tower Of London, a winner in Saudi Arabia last month, in a line-up which also includes Andrew Balding’s Coltrane and Trawlerman, winner of the Long Distance Cup on British Champions Day in October.
Trawlerman will be ridden by Kieran Shoemark in his new role as the Gosden stable’s main jockey but the gelding’s former jockey Frankie Dettori jets in from California for four rides on the day.
They include the Gosden-trained Lord North who will try to win the Dubai Turf for a fourth time.
Frankie Dettori will return from America in the hope of clinching a fourth Dubai Turf with Lord North (pictured in 2023)
Dettori’s other rides include Charlie Appleby-trained Star of Mystery, 3-1 favourite for the Al Quoz Sprint, Bill Mott’s Bold Journey in the Golden Shaheen and Bob Baffert-trained Newgate in the $12m (£9.4m) World Cup.
Britain has lost one contender with Mick Appleby’s Annaf, a winner in Saudi Arabia last month, out of the Al Quoz Sprint.
Appleby said: ‘He got taken ill on the flight over. It is not life threatening or anything, it’s just prevented him from running.’
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