On Monday, the Dubai Racing Club published the complete list of
nominations for the March 31 World Cup card at Meydan. Horses from a grand
total of 24 countries hold engagements for the world’s richest race meeting,
comprising eight Thoroughbred races and one Purebred Arabian contest.
Americans nominated to the $10 million World Cup include Kentucky
Derby-winning champion Animal Kingdom; champion older male Acclamation and his
rival for that honor, Game on Dude; last year’s champion three-year-old filly
Royal Delta; Preakness winner Shackleford; Belmont stakes victor Ruler on Ice;
Brilliant Speed; Duke of Mischief; Flat Out; Jaycito; Midnight Interlude;
Norvsky; Redeemed; Setsuko; and Trickmeister.
Japanese champion Transcend, who was just outdueled in the 2011 World Cup,
and compatriots Smart Falcon and Tosen Jordan are among the high-profile
internationals under consideration for the about 1 1/4-mile test on Tapeta.
Others are Aidan O’Brien’s So You Think, Await the Dawn and Treasure Beach;
French-based globetrotter Cirrus des Aigles; Godolphin’s Blue Bunting; the Mike
de Kock-trained Bold Silvano and Master of Hounds; Hong Kong Horse of the Year
Ambitious Dragon; Gitano Hernando, the Grade 1 Goodwood winner of 2009 who was
last seen landing the Group 1 Singapore Airlines International Cup; and the
Saudi-based Fly Down, best remembered for his near-misses in the Belmont Stakes
and Grade 1 Travers in 2010.
Japanese Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner Orfevre was made eligible,
but will reportedly stay home until his venture to France for the Group 1 Prix
de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Many World Cup nominees have alternate engagements on the undercard, which
promises to feature additional superstars.
It’s uncertain whether world champion sprinter Black Caviar, Australia’s
unbeaten Horse of the Year, will take up her entry in either the Group 1 Golden
Shaheen on Tapeta or the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on turf. Very much on course for
the Golden Shaheen are defending champion Rocket Man from Singapore and
Australia’s Sepoy.
Kinsale King, the 2010 Golden Shaheen winner, is nominated to both lucrative
sprint races, as is Hungarian idol Overdose. Champion Musical Romance is
single-minded about the Golden Shaheen, while Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint star
Regally Ready is eligible for the Al Quoz alone.
Caracortado has a range of options, including the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free,
which has attracted Get Stormy and Jeranimo and the top three from last year’s
running of the about nine-furlong turf race — Presvis, River Jetez and Wigmore
Hall.
Caleb’s Posse and The Factor are notable nominees to the Golden Shaheen and
to the Group 2 Godolphin Mile on Tapeta, the definite target for Western
Aristocrat.
Group 1 Melbourne Cup and Group 1 Hong Kong Vase hero Dunaden appears on the
list for the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic, an about 1 1/2-mile clash on turf,
along with Breeders’ Cup Turf romper St Nicholas Abbey and Sanagas.
Should Dunaden instead opt for the Group 3 Dubai Gold Cup, over about two
grassy miles, he could meet Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup hero Fame and Glory. Former
Barry Abrams runner Unusual Suspect, now officially Australian, is likewise
engaged.
Although the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby has attracted its usual share of American
nominees who are unlikely to ship, the about 1 3/16-mile affair has lured
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Wrote and Daddy Long Legs from the O’Brien
yard, British-based Red Duke, and Australia’s Helmet.