Life Is Good, And Then There’s Charlie

The Dubai World Cup is the World’s richest horse race and has treated horse racing’s top horses and their connections to unforgettable experiences in the desert kingdom. Saturday, March 26, airing at 4:45 am PST, will be the 26th running of the prestigious event, with the purse money being $12 million.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good will be the favorite after his easy win in the Pegasus and the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile. His high cruising speed generally sends him effortlessly to the front. Another tough competitor and a fan favorite are Hot Rod Charlie, trained by Doug O’Neill and owned by local San Diego connections. Charlie has been camping out in Dubai with a winning race under his belt over the track. Country Grammar (Bob Baffert) and Midnight Bourbon (Steve Asmussen) decided to ship in early, and with the Maktoum Challenge Round 2 under their belts, they finished second and third, respectively.

Coming from other parts of the World is Uruguay’s Aero Trim, a Grade 1 winner trained by Antonio Cintra. Japan has sent Chuwa Wizard, with France sending Andre Fabre’s Magna Cours. The UK horse Grocer Jack, conditioned by William Haggas, will be joining the field. Other local horses in Dubai will be running. Real World trained by Saeed Bin Suroor, a nine-time winner of this race, Hypothetical trained by Salem Bin Ghadayer and Remorse, led over by conditioner Bhupat Seemar.

The World is getting smaller. It must be an experience to take your horse to the other side of the World, be wined and dined with people much different from yourself, and be treated with kindness and respect. You see, we can all get along.