Dubai World Cup

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- In a Thursday morning presser at Meydan Racecourse, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher suggested that a good deal of the allure of running in a race like the G1 Dubai World Cup is that it brings together a smorgasbord of horses from a variety of jurisdictions with patriotic pride at play. "I think part of it is the international competition aspect of it," he offered. "I said this when Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) won the [G2 Godolphin] Mile [in 2019], it almost takes on...

Ever-popular retired Hall of Fame jockey and current television analyst for Fox Sports and the New York Racing Association Gary Stevens joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday afternoon for an expansive discussion on an array of racing topics and issues. Sitting down with Joe Bianca and Bill Finley as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Stevens gave a huge personal endorsement to star 3-year-old filly Secret Oath (Arrogate) as she prepares to take on males, analyzed the shuffling of the California jockey colony, talked about his...

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- With the exception of host Sheikh Mohammed, who has won the G1 Dubai World Cup no fewer than nine times, and the late Sheikh Hamdan (two), no other owner has managed to post more than one victory in the event, now worth $12 million. That could all change in the space of a little more than two minutes Saturday afternoon when Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm sends out a pair of runners consisting of different partnerships. On a rating of 124, 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is...

DUBAI, UAE--After an abandoned meeting in 2020 and a behind-closed-doors reprisal 12 months ago, the Dubai Racing Club will be itching to stage a back-to-normal Dubai World Cup on Saturday with an international cast of stars. In fact, the week's activities are not quite as they would usually be as the race programme is enhanced by the inclusion of the first Dubai Breeze-up Sale at Meydan on Wednesday, hosted in association with Goffs. The 69 juveniles catalogued shipped in to Dubai last week with quite the fanfare, as branded horseboxes...

Although he beat just three home in the G1 Saudi Cup a fortnight ago, trainer Saeed bin Suroor said Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) could still stay on the dirt for the G1 Dubai World Cup on Mar. 26. Godolphin's 5-year-old came alive in Britain last summer, winning the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot followed by three straight black-type races culminating in the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein in October, and he kicked off his campaign with victory in the G2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan on Jan. 28. Real...

The main event on Saudi Cup Day two weeks ago was all about the host nation, with the locally owned and trained Emblem Road (Quality Road) posting a remarkable upset in the world's richest horse race. Saudi Arabia has announced its presence on the global horse racing scene loud and clear, and the country-with its ever-increasing investment in racehorses and breeding stock globally--will continue to be heard from for years to come. When the layers are peeled back on the third running of the Saudi Cup card, however, it was...

Never afraid to explore different avenues, Goffs brings an international flair to this year's breeze-up circuit with the launch of a 2-year-old sale in Dubai. Hosted by the Dubai Racing Club (DRC) in association with the sales company at Meydan racecourse during Dubai World Cup week on March 23, the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale represents an audacious move that involves the shipment of 69 horses to Dubai from Europe. This is done with the aspiration that exposure of the European breeze-up product to an international audience will be rewarded with...

Azure Coast (Street Sense) was plucked out of the Gainesway consignment at Keeneland September in 2020 by owner Vladamir Kazakov for $65,000, and that has proven to be an inspired purchase with the colt now three-for-three and a stakes winner after taking Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas on his black-type debut. Debuting over a mile in Moscow in September, Azure Coast came home a six-length winner. He resurfaced at Meydan for trainer Pavel Vaschenko in December, dropping back to seven furlongs to win a conditions race over the Meydan dirt...

American stars Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) are among 153 horses nominated to the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup, which will be run at Meydan on Mar. 26. A total of 750 horses from 20 different countries have been nominated for the nine-race, $30.5-million card. The 4-year-old Life Is Good was the emphatic winner of both the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar and the GI Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 29, while Hot Rod Charlie was multiple Classic-placed last year and won...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday fresh off of a pair of seven-figure wins at Gulfstream and amid one of the hottest streaks of his training life. Sitting down with Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher talked about Life Is Good's dazzling win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. and what's next for the superstar son of Into Mischief, a planned Dubai trip for MGISW turfer Colonel Liam (Liam's...

It's not too early to lump Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in with some of the best horses of the modern era. That's how good he was Saturday at Gulfstream when he dominated over a field that included the soon-to-be-named 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in what was nothing less than a sensational performance. But is he even the best horse in training? It's a rare and special time for horse racing, which has been blessed with not just...

Flying P Stable and R. A. Hill Stable's Lone Rock (Majestic Warrior), winner of the 13-furlong GII Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance S. on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Del Mar Nov. 6, is a possible candidate for the G1 $12-million Dubai World Cup Mar. 26, according to trainer Robertino Diodoro. If all goes well in the 7-year-old gelding's next start, the GIII Razorback H. at Oaklawn Feb. 12, the Dubai World Cup will likely be next. "I don't know if we have to win [the Razorback]," Diodoro said. "We are shortening...