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Dubai: American trainer Doug O'Neill is set to return to the scene of his famous victory in last year's Godolphin Mile (Gr 2) when he sends out Great Hunter to contest in March 29th's $6 million Dubai World Cup.
O'Neill claimed his maiden Dubai success 12 months ago when Spring At Last ran out a decisive winner of the $1 million contest.
This year O'Neill returns with a Grade 1 winner who must turn the clock back if he hopes to be a realistic contender. Great Hunter won the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland in October 2006, but has gone winless in six subsequent starts, four of them on Santa Anita Park's synthetic surface.
Optimistic
But the four-year-old's connections remain optimistic about his chances on the dirt track at Nad Al Sheba where Spring Al Last scored a rousing win for O'Neill.
"He's run his best races on dirt," Dennis O'Neill, the trainer's brother who works with the stable, told the Dubai Racing Club newswire. "We're hoping the synthetic tracks just aren't his cup of tea and that he'll do better with a return to dirt. He's training great and he's sound and he looks fantastic. So, if you're going to run back on the dirt, why not do it for $6 million?"
On his most recent outing in the Santa Anita Handicap (Gr 1) on March 1, a race that is seen as a major prep for horses hoping to book their tickets to Dubai, Great Hunter could only finish eight behind Heartseeker.
Yet his connections are determined to take the Dubai route. "Even though he has been disappointing recently, I know the horse has got a tonne of ability," said O' Neill.
Great Hunter will become the fourth American-based horse to run in the Dubai World Cup together with Breeders' Cup classic winner Curlin and Grade 2 winners Well Armed and A. P. Arrow.
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