Dubai
Nominations for the landmark 20th running of the $10 million (Dh36.7 million) Dubai World Cup meeting have surpassed all expectations, with a staggering 2,142 horses from 19 countries being shortlisted for the world’s richest race day at Meydan on March 28.
Announcing the overall entries for the nine-race programme, the Dubai Racing Club (DRC) on Tuesday highlighted that 13 of the 20 highest-rated Thoroughbreds in the world feature in the exhaustive list — including the highest-rated horses from Japan, Hong Kong, Great Britain and the USA.
The 2,000-metre Dubai World Cup (G1) alone has attracted 296 nominations, among them the first seven finishers in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) won by the Bob Baffert-trained Bayern.
Runner-up and 2014 UAE Derby (G2) winner Toast Of New York is joined in the nominations by US Horse of the Year Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome, quadruple Grade 1 scorer Shared Belief, Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tonalist, Candy Boy and Cigar Street.
Bayern, who is the joint 5-1 ante-post favourite with British bookmakers Coral together with Toast Of New York, will bid to give Hall Of Fame trainer Baffert a third Dubai World Cup success following Silver Charm in 1998 and Captain Steve in 2001.
Also among the entry list from the USA is the Graham Motion-trained Main Sequence, the Champion Older Male and Champion Turf Horse of 2014. Motion is the last American handler to win the Dubai World Cup, when he sent out Animal Kingdom to triumph on the all-weather track in 2013.
This year, however, the race returns to the original dirt surface on which it was run between 1996 and 2009.
Meanwhile, on the home front, six-time Dubai World Cup-winning trainer Saeed Bin Surour has nominated 2014 winner African Story to defend the title he won on the synthetic surface.
Bin Surour’s Godolphin workmate Charlie Appleby will bid to win the race for the first time with Sir Fever, a multiple Uruguayan Group 1 winner, who has multiple entries for the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), Dubai Turf (G1) and the UAE Derby (G2).
The $1 million Godolphin Mile (G1) has attracted the highest number of entries, with UAE-based horses boosting the total to 331 for a race that was won by South Africa’s Variety Club last season.
The $6 million Dubai Turf, previously known as the Dubai Duty Free and which was won by Japanese star Just A Way last year, has attracted 316 nominations including 23 British and South African-trained horses.
Japanese stars headed by Epiphaneia, the highest-rated horse in training, also dominate the entries for the $6m Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) presented by Longines.
The Katsuhiko Sumii-trained Epiphaneia also holds a Dubai World Cup nomination and, should he make the final list, he will bid to give Sumii a second victory in the race after Victoire Pisa’s famous triumph in 2011.
Hong Kong was responsible for the two sprint winners on Dubai World Cup day last season and trainer John Moore, who won the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) with Sterling City, looks to hold strong claims with the world’s best miler, 2014 Hong Kong Mile victor Able Friend, on the list for the Dubai Turf, as well as Hong Kong Cup winner Designs on Rome.
Second in that race, Military Attack, trained by Caspar Fownes, has also been nominated.
Peniaphobia, the Tony Cruz-trained sprinter that won the 2014 Jockey Club Sprint as well as the recent Hong Kong Group 1 Centenary Sprint, has also been nominated for the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1). Hong Kong Sprint winner Aerovelocity trained by Paul O’Sullivan has also been nominated for both the Dubai Golden Shaheen and the $1m Al Quoz Sprint empowered by IPIC.
Meanwhile, tickets for Dubai World Cup meeting priced at Dh450 are currently on sale. For details visit www.dubairacingclub.com
