As most of the major racing centers in the Northern hemisphere scale down operations for the winter, the sport in the salubrious Emirate of Dubai steps up several notches with the world's best racing professionals, horses and aficionados descending on the city-state to partake in the Dubai World Cup Racing Carnival. There are always some newcomers to this ten meeting festival as well as the regulars. Once such regular is Fawzi Nass.

 

The Dubai World Cup Carnival is a series of 10 race meetings hosted at Dubai's iconic Meydan as a lead up to the jewel in the crown of the Dubai racing season the Dubai World Cup. Worth a whopping US$10m spread over the entire Carnival. Horses are invited from all over the world to compete and apart from the more than attractive prize money on offer, all the connections of the invited horses are hosted, in the luxury one has come to expect as part of the whole DWCC experience.

 

Nass is a regular at the carnival and has won 9 races at this extremely competitive meeting. Forty six year old Nass hails from one of the Island Kingdom's most influential industrialist families. He jokingly says that the horses are just a hobby while his actual job is still executive director to many of his family concerns. However, his "hobby" has now grown out of proportion, such that Nassand his family now actually live in a well appointed home in his purpose built stable at the Rashid Equestrian Club in Sakhir, Bahrain.

 

Horses owned and trained by Nass race in the UK, Dubai and of course Bahrain where he has been amongst the leading stables on a consistent basis. Not shy of a challenge he's even taken his horses as far afield as Singapore. Equally adept at training Thoroughbreds and Purebred Arabians, he has enjoyed resounding success with both breeds, in fact his four wins in a row in the Kings Cup- Bahrain for Purebred Arabians is clearly one of his career highlights and would be right up there with his Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr I) win with the quirky Krypton Factor at the DWC meeting 2012. Other stars owned or trained by Nass are Asmar(Cape Cross ex Zaneton) who's best effort came when runner up to Toast Of NewYork in the UAE Derby 2014 and flying filly Shumoos(Distorted Homor ex Wile Cat) who came from an impossible position to end up second best in the 2011 Breeders Cup Juvenile Sprint at Churchill Downs.

 

The soft spoken and very mild mannered Nass has breeding interests in Newmarket where he and his family have their summer base at Grange House Stables. He also has a small breeding operation in Bahrain and holds his own against the bigger breeders with some more than useful locally bred winners.

 

Nass says that his Carnival plans for 2018 currently rest on 4 horses, though he could chalk in a couple more later.

 

This quirky character takes his place in what would be a record 7th Carnival. He's lost some of the sting that saw him storm home in the Dubai Gr. 1 Golden Shaheenand then run two and a quarter lengths behind the peerless Black Caviar at Royal Ascot all those years back in 2012. He still retains his zest for racing though he's a different horse entirely at exercise doing exactly what he deigns to do on any given day. He inherits his speed genes from his sire the lightning quick Nunthorpe winner Kyllacchy also the sire of yet another grand old campaigner in Sole Power.

 

This five year old Galileo gelding already has Carnival experience with a 2nd place at the 2017 edition. He has also had a promising outing at Meydan this season. Winner of just one race when trained in Ireland by the record breaking Aidan O'Brien, he's a progressive sort over middle to long distances.

 

A useful sprinter type by leading sire Dubawi is winner of 4 races in the UK and has his first Carnival experience this edition. It could be interesting to see how he acts on the fast turf or dirt surfaces at Meydan because most of his best runs have come when there has been a bit of yield in the ground.

 

This son of champion sprinter Lethal Force is the youngest of this quartet at two years old. Winner of his last two starts and then gelded before being brought over to the middle east, he could be the most exciting of the four.

 

Nass was a bit slow getting started this Bahrain season, but now the stable is in rude form and a couple of his recent winners, who could also be heading to Meydan.

 

So we could be looking forward to see the Kingdom Of Bahrain’s colours fly again at the DWCC.

 

By Jehangir Rustomjee