Dubai World Cup

Magnitude (Not This Time) continued preparations for the upcoming GI Stephen Foster S. with a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.80 (12/16) at Churchill Downs Sunday. The Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer has now posted five workouts for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen--all beneath the Twin Spires--since defeating the globe-trotting 2025 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) by a length in front-running fashion in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Mar. 28. "Very impressive horse, continues to train forwardly," Asmussen said. "Have two more scheduled workouts between now...

There was much to absorb over the last weekend and, significantly for the tier of horseracing which prompts so much fan engagement, the two best horses in Europe both returned victorious in Dubai. Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), first and second in last year's Qipco Champion Stakes and just two pounds apart in the 2025 Longines World Rankings, each put down an important marker for the season ahead, in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Turf respectively. And, yes, perhaps one can argue that there wasn't the usual...

By Emma Berry and Tom Frary Whatever your preference, as long as you are a fan of the Flat, there is something to whet your whistle this weekend. From early this Saturday morning there is top-class fare to entertain us. Have your alarm set for Dubai Honour (Pride Of Dubai) and Vauban (Galiway) in the G1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill, where 4,800,000-guinea Yulong purchase Barnavara (Calyx) also makes her return in the G2 Neville Selwood Stakes. For those with the stamina of a Gold Cup contender, the GI Florida Derby...

With a victory in Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup--a fait accompli in the eyes of many--reigning Japanese Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) would leap-frog Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) as the world's richest racehorse with over $36 million in career earnings, accomplished in the space of just 15 races. Heady stuff. Unfathomable stuff, really. And to think that the 5-year-old is out of a mare that fetched just $8,000 as a yearling, well, you just...

Though his best form in America is over a mile, Wathnan Racing's Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance) has successfully negotiated a step up in trip in his last couple of appearances in the desert and 6-year-old gelding has well and truly earned his chance at Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup going the 2000 meters, his first try at the trip. One of just 837 horses foaled in Louisiana in 2020, Tumbarumba is a four-time stakes winner going eight furlongs, half of those since his acquisition by Wathnan in the summer of...

Reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Forever Young (Real Steel) will break from stall 6 under Ryusei Sakai in a field of nine for Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who drew the gate number during the post-position ceremony at Meydan Racecourse on Wednesday morning, said, "I wanted middle to outer, so I'm pleased." Last year, Forever Young could manage only third in the Dubai World Cup behind Hit Show (Candy Ride), who is drawn alongside Forever Young in gate 5 as he tries...

Fresh from another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins provides the lowdown on leading Dubai Sheema Classic hope Ethical Diamond and more Not content with tightening his grip on the National Hunt sphere following another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins will be taking aim at the world's best racehorse Calandagan in Saturday's Dubai Sheema Classic with his Breeders' Cup hero Ethical Diamond - and the bad news for his contemporaries on the Flat is that the champion jumps trainer has revealed that...

When the list of probables for the $2-million G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen came out a week ago, it was hardly surprising to see Qatar Racng and Mrs. Fitri Hay's Nakatomi (Firing Line) among the five American-based horses bound for Meydan Racecourse. After all, the Emirates have become a regular late-winter/early-spring destination for the chestnut gelding, as he makes his third straight appearance in the 1200-meter dash. The way connections see it, the racing Gods owe them one. Off to a slow start and awkward in the early stages in 2024,...

"Road to the Cup" is a new series launched by Breeders' Cup to allow fans to follow horses around the globe preparing for the 2026 Breeders' Cup championship weekend at Keeneland in late October. The series previews and recaps the races that make up the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Its first installment previews the Mar. 28 Dubai World Cup Carnival. The G1 Dubai World Cup, G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic to be run this Saturday at Meydan all offer automatic berths to...

As always, Ireland and France have been quicker off the mark when it comes to the Flat turf season, and Britain joins them this Saturday with the opening meeting at Doncaster, which always provides plenty of interest, not least through the Brocklesby Stakes. This year, fittingly, the first two-year-old race in Britain is run in memory of Bill Turner, whose name was a standing dish in the Brocklesby entries and who died last August at the age of 78. With six victories between 1996 and 2013, Turner holds the record...

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Labwah (Charlatan) will face some considerable obstacles when she enters the gate for Saturday's $1-million G2 UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse. Not only will she attempt to become just the second of her sex to beat the boys in the Road to the Kentucky Derby points race (Khawlah, 2011), she will also have to see off an always-deep challenge from Japan, whose runners have taken out the last four runnings. While the filly's Lexington-area breeder Calvin Crain wasn't prepared to make any bold predictions,...

With the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting now less than a week away, a quartet of American-based gallopers took to the Meydan main track Saturday morning to post their final major preparations. Defending G1 Dubai World Cup champion Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) is one of two in the main event for Wathan Racing  (and one of an impressive six runners across the evening) and the 6-year-old tuned up for the 2000-meter feature Saturday, covering a half-mile in :48 2/5, per trainer Brad Cox. "Cooled out great, he's handled the...