Lord Glitters came from last to first under Jason Watson to win a thrilling edition of the Bahrain International Trophy.
Pogo took the 13 runners along at a good gallop in the early stages with Dubai Future for company on his outside.
Lord Glitters still had the whole field to pass early in the straight and, as Pogo and Dubai Future began to weaken, it briefly looked as if Barney Roy and Magny Cours would be left to lead home a one-two in the Godolphin blue, with both delivering strong challenges towards the centre of the track.
Barney Roy gained the upper hand in that battle inside the final furlong and looked set to cap a stellar season for trainer Charlie Appleby by claiming the spoils.
Lord Glitters had other ideas, however, producing his trademark strong finish under Watson to collar Barney Roy close home, registering the tenth victory of his career in doing so.
Magny Cours finished close up in third with Fev Rover taking a creditable fourth for Richard Fahey a couple of lengths behind the other principals.
🙌 WHAT A HORSE
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) November 19, 2021
Lord Glitters flashes home down the outside under @Jason7Watson1 to land the Group 3 Bahrain International Trophy for @omeararacing!pic.twitter.com/l8HQgNXOv1
Jason Watson reaction:
For Watson, standing in for the injured Danny Tudhope, it was his biggest success since parting ways with the Roger Charlton yard earlier this season.
Explaining how the race panned out, Watson said: “I was hoping that we would half miss the break, because he does have a tendency to race a bit too freely early on. I was very lucky, he was nice and kind to me today. I’m just a passenger on a horse like him, he’s been there and got the t-shirt.
“I thought they were going quick early on. It was a bit sedate halfway through the race, but I was happy with where I was. He’s the sort of horse you’ve just got to have a lot of faith in and let him do it himself. David [O’Meara, trainer] told me to ride him to be placed. He’s the sort of horse who runs best when he’s left alone and you don’t put much pressure on him. Luckily, it all paid off today.
“I thought he was a big price coming into the race. His form in Britain this year hasn’t been outstanding, so I can see why from that perspective, but you had to think that he retains his ability – it was only back in March that he won a Group One in Meydan.”
David O’Meara reaction:
Trainer David O’Meara was delighted to be able make it second time lucky in this valuable contest after Lord Glitters had finished only fifth 12 months earlier.
O’Meara pointed out: “He ran well last year. We felt that he could be competitive again and this year he got a good pace to aim at. Last year they hacked and they let two slip the field on the bend. This year there was talk that there would be a lot of pace on, with a lot of horses wanting to lead or be handy. In any race we end up in, when that is the scenario, Lord Glitters will always be dangerous. He’s got a very good finish on him as long as he settles early.”
A return to Dubai is reportedly next on the agenda for Lord Glitters, following a similar path to that he tread in 2021, although O’Meara makes it clear that nothing will be taken for granted with a horse who will have turned nine should we see him at Meydan early next year.
O’Meara said: “It means the world because he’s not a young horse. Every big race we end up in – and run well in – is a bonus. I’ve had horses like him in the past and a lot of them are probably on the decline by the time they’re rising nine. We’re under no illusions and he’s probably got a short window left in his career.
“The enthusiasm is still there and the ability is still there. He’s a Queen Anne winner and he’s unlucky not to be a dual Queen Anne winner. For me he was overlooked. I appreciate he had the penalty to carry, but we’ve beaten Zakouski and we’ve finished very close to him in a steadily-run affair in Dubai when giving him a penalty. So, we knew that we could get close to the favourite.
“Three runs ago he was second in the Strensall giving 7 lb to Real World, who won the Prix Daniel Wildenstein. Since then I took him to Haydock, which was probably wrong on my part. They were all winning off the front and nothing landed a blow all day from behind. Then in the QEII, off a very steady pace, he ended up in the middle of the field and pulling too hard on the worst part of the track.
“We are guilty often of looking at our horses through rose-coloured glasses, but I still felt, even if I tried to put my neutral head on, that I could write off his last two races.”
Only time will tell whether Lord Glitters’ future races will include a third trip to Bahrain, with O’Meara favouring caution in the immediate aftermath of this glorious triumph.
He added: “I can’t imagine he’d come back here nearly 10 and try and win again. Surely, there will come a time when his legs give way on him – but not yet.”
Charlie Appleby reaction:
Charlie Appleby, trainer of the runner-up Barney Roy, said: “We’re delighted. We came here to win our race and we thought we’d gone and won it, but as always with Lord Glitters the race is never over until he hits the line. He hit it right at the right spot!
“We’re pleased to be part of it, it was a great race and we’ll try again next year. This race is in the calendar now and it’s most definitely a race that we’ll pinpoint horses for. It was the first year of it being a Group Three and we saw what it brought to the table. It’s a class race when you’ve got two Group One winners [Lord Glitters and Barney Roy] and Magny Cours in third.”
Adam Houghton analysis
2020 was the first year since Lord Glitters joined the David O’Meara yard that he hadn’t won a race, causing some people to question, and understandably so, whether the popular grey might be starting to feel his age.
However, watch back his final outing of last season, when fifth in the second running of the Bahrain International Trophy, and it is apparent that Lord Glitters was a horse with plenty still to give. Typically doing his best work at the finish, he was beaten just a length and a half at the line and probably would have finished closer still but for the steady early gallop.
As O’Meara reiterated shortly after watching his charge scoop the lion’s share of the £500,000 prize fund for this year’s renewal, Lord Glitters has always been most effective when getting a strong pace to aim at. That set of circumstances gives him every opportunity to utilise his trademark finishing kick, an asset which looked as potent on Friday as it did when he registered his first success for this yard in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot more than four years ago.
There have been four more wins in between, including a second Group One victory in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan in March which underlined that the eight-year-old version of Lord Glitters was still a force to be reckoned with. He had previously made the breakthrough at the top level when winning the Queen Anne Stakes in 2019, going one place better than 12 months earlier as he edged out Beat The Bank by a neck.
That Royal Ascot triumph was the best performance of his career according to Timeform ratings – he ran to a figure of 122 – and it’s entirely possible that Lord Glitters matched that effort in winning this Group Three. Just look at the two horses who chased him home, namely Barney Roy and Magny Cours, who came into the race with Timeform ratings of 119 and 118, respectively.
The fact Lord Glitters conceded 3lb to that pair reflects even more credit on him and the ratings of the first three are potentially significant for more reasons than one.
As well as demonstrating how much ability Lord Glitters still possesses at this advanced stage of his career, the result will almost certainly help the case for the Bahrain International Trophy to receive another upgrade. The race was staged as a Group Three for the first time this year, but the quality of the participants was up to Group Two standard at the very least.
That discussion is for another day, though. This one belonged to Lord Glitters, Watson and O’Meara, the trainer who clearly felt that his charge had been underestimated in the build up to the race, at least by the bookmakers back at home.
That may have made the victory even sweeter, but only a little as O’Meara was plainly just elated to have won another big pot with the grey he describes as being “as very special to us”.
A special horse indeed and, hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of him yet.
