Dream Come True for BERNEKLINT JNR

It will be the realisation of a dream when Oscar Berneklint saddles his first runners at Meydan Racecourse in a few weeks’ time.

The 28-year-old first visited Dubai as a small boy and was here in an assistant capacity when his mother Susanne celebrated a pair of Dubai Racing Carnival victories in 2019 and 2020. Five years on, he is a trainer in his own name in Sweden and ready to make a big international foray, with three horses accepted for the Carnival.

“I remember first visiting the races in Dubai when it was still Nad Al Sheba Racecourse,” remembers Berneklint, now 29. “My father had one horse competing that year and that’s when I first realised how competitive it was.

“When my mother started training back home in Sweden, we were really lucky to have some high-class horses. The best was I Kirk who became our first winner over in Dubai – that really felt like a dream come true.

“During our second season we had another Dubai winner in Plata O Plomo. To have been able to take horses there in the first place is an amazing achievement but it really meant a lot for me and my family to have been able to really perform over there.”

Now, the licence carries his name, although he has ample support from wife Rebecca, 27, a successful jockey.

“Rebecca and I have a small stable in the southern part of Sweden, and we had eight horses in training this season,” he explains. “Hopefully going to Dubai this year will be a game changer for our team.”

Berneklint’s three-pronged team comprises two juveniles. Nocutsnobuts, a son of El Kabeir who has won twice, is joined by filly Surpreme Shine, a daughter of Supremacy, who has won once. Also along for the journey is Rebel’s Gamble, purchased out of the Karl Burke stable.

“I really think that we have brought three talented young horses who will improve a lot during the Carnival,” says the young trainer. “The two-year-olds have shown that they are talented horses in Scandinavia but they have a lot more development in them.

“We also bought a three-year-old colt by Dark Angel, named Rebel’s Gamble. He is a Listed winner earlier this year.”

Team Berneklint arrives in Dubai in mid-December and will be the realisation of an ambition for Oscar.

“Ever since the very first time I went racing in Dubai I dreamed about having horses there competing for me,” he says. “To have a winner would be an absolute game changer for us and a dream come true.”