Jamie Osborne is thrilled to have two runners on Dubai World Cup night, as stable stars Heart Of Honor and Brotherly Love target big-race successes at Meydan on Saturday.
Heart Of Honor tries his luck once again, this time in the £5.1million feature, after going down in the UAE Derby by a neck last year, with Brotherly Love hoping to avenge his half-sibling’s narrow loss in that race.
“It’s far from unusual for a UK trainer to have a couple of runners on World Cup night. It’s extremely unusual for both to be on the dirt,” Osborne said.
“For us with our smaller pool of horses and for Jim and Claire (Bryce, owners), who backed us to find some credible dirt horses, it is nice they are getting the just reward for their faith.
“Whatever happens, we are going to enjoy Saturday night and to have two horses like these, on this sort of stage for a yard of our size – it’s quite unusual. And you add into the equation that the two horses are brothers.”
The Lambourn handler’s star four-year-old began his winter campaign with two victories, including the Listed Entisar, before stepping up in grade on his last two starts.
“Heart Of Honor’s season started really well,” Osborne said.
“He was adequate in the Group One behind Imperial Emperor and then he was poor last time. It was the first stinker he’s thrown in ever, really.
“There were circumstances that led to that, but I would be very hopeful that is not going to be a pattern with him, that was an outlier.
“Realistically, we know he’s not in the same league as a Forever Young, but there is an awful lot of prize-money on offer and Heart Of Honor on a good day, I think, is capable of winning a fair chunk of it.
“We’ve been around long enough, it is a horse race. All sorts of strange things can happen. If there is a set-up that would really suit him and he got that set-up, he could punch above his weight.
“He knows the track, he won’t notice if there’s more people there or anything like that. He’s spent most of his career running on that track.”
Brotherly Love heads into the UAE Derby on the back of an impressive course and distance victory in Listed company.
“He chucked in one ordinary run in the (UAE 2000) Guineas, I think there were credible circumstances that led to that if you go back and watch the race. He got completely wiped out of the gate,” Osborne added.
“It just got him on the back foot and he never could get back into it and Saffie (Osborne, jockey) just kind of accepted it.
“He’s matured through his time in Dubai and the things I’ve seen in the last couple of the weeks, he looks magnificent and he looks stronger than he looks than he did at any stage.”
Both horses will conclude their seasons at the Carnival before heading home, but do not expect either of the Old Malt House stars to be seen domestically.
He added: “I could imagine both horses will come home after Saturday and have a break, and I’d like to turn them into horses that on an annual basis, that if they stay sound, they can go back there (to Dubai) for many years.
“I think if we overrace them or try to do something different here, we are just going to draw from our chances of succeeding in Dubai next winter. I think it will be unlikely (to race in the UK).”
