So You Think going into $10m world cup

Dubai: The Aidan O'Brien-trained So You Think is going into the $10 million (Dh36.78 million) Dubai World Cup (2,000 metres) at Meydan tonight with an exceptional record over the distance.

The High Chaparral six-year-old was an awesome winner of the Cox Plate — Australasia's weight-for-age championship — over 2,040 metres at Moonee Valley in 2009 and 2010 when in the care of the legendary Bart Cummings. He was subsequently transferred to O'Brien's Ballydoyle stables.

Since then, So You Think has shown his undoubted class by adapting quickly to the change in environment and training technique.

In seven outings over 2,000 metres - six at the elite level — since being taken over by O'Brien, he has registered four wins, two seconds and what can be regarded as an unlucky sixth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Two significant points can be taken from So You Think's efforts as far as tonight's race is concerned.

Firstly, although beaten out of the money at Churchill Downs, he demonstrated that the dirt surface did not hold any fears for him. On that basis, he will be comfortable on the tapeta at Meydan.

Secondly, he won over the World Cup distance at his debut for O'Brien in a Group 3 race at the Curragh.

O'Brien found out last year, when he ran Master Of Hounds in UAE Derby and Cape Blanco in the World Cup, that having tactical speed is a vital factor on the synthetic surface. This is an attribute that So You Think possesses.

So do his major rivals Game On Dude, in particular, and Royal Delta. Game on Dude took up the running when second in Breeders' Cup Classic [2,000 metres] and it is a role he may adopt again.

It is noteworthy that the Breeders' Cup Classic has been an influential guide to the Dubai World Cup with Cigar [1995], Pleasantly Perfect [2003], Invasor [2006] and Curlin [2007] winning both races in the space of a few months.

Added to that, Captain Steve and Roses In May were placed in the Classic before going on to win the World Cup.

Furthermore, Game On Dude's trainer Bob Baffert has victories to his credit in the event with Silver Charm [1998] and Captain Steve [2001].

While Baffert is accustomed to success in Dubai, Game On Dude's rider Chantal Sutherland will be trying to create a piece of racing history by becoming the first female to win a race at Dubai's premier attraction.

Bill Mott assured himself of his place in racing history by training the first Dubai World Cup winner Cigar and he gets the opportunity to add to the record with Royal Delta.

An impressive winner of the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic [1,800 metres] in November, Royal Delta will be endeavouring to become the first female to score in the World Cup.

She certainly has the credentials, given her Churchill Downs victory and her success in the Grade 1 Alabama [2,000 metres] at historic Saratoga.

Japanese entries — Victoire Pisa and Transend — finished first and second, respectively, last year and this year they will again present a formidable challenge with Transend, Smart Falcon and Eishin Flash. Transend, who subsequently went on to win his second Japan Cup Dirt [1,800 metres], will be hard to beat again, while Smart Falcon has won at his last nine outings which entitles him to supreme respect.

Smart Falcon has also proved himself on synthetic surfaces, but Eishin Flash, who is the 2010 Japanese Derby winner, is unknown on the surface, but has galloped impressively at Meydan since arriving in Dubai. Of course Godolphin, which already has four victories, will again be strongly represented with Capponi, Mendip, Monterosso and Prince Bishop.

The most interesting of those is Capponi, who was formerly with Mark Johnston in England but is now prepared by Mahmoud Al Zarouni. A five year old by Medician has won his last three outings at Meydan.

The latest of these was in Round 3 of the Maktoum Challenge which has proven a reliable guide for the World Cup.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who had won the race with Almutawakel in 1999, has his colours carried by the former French galloper Silver Pond.

An accomplished Group 1 competitor, he seems to have quickly adapted to the conditions in Dubai, going by his second-to-Capponi status on Middle Eastern debut.

That came after a respectable third to Emirates Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden in the Hong Kong Vase [2,400 metres] last December.

German trained Zazou, who ran second in the Hong Kong Cup [2,000 metres], and Italy's Planteur, who was runner-up in the 2010 French Derby, add further depth to what is shaping up as a vintage field.