Dubai World Cup

Newgate (Into Mischief), recent winner of the GI Santa Anita H., was one of nine American horses to turn in breezes Saturday morning both domestically and abroad in advance of the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan Racecourse in two weeks' time. An $850,000 Keeneland September yearling, Newgate returned to the worktab for the first time since the Mar. 3 Big 'Cap, covering five furlongs in a bullet :58.20 (1/77) in the company of GIII Native Diver S. winner Mr Fisk (Arrogate) at Santa Anita. Frankie Dettori, who won his...

Five returning champions and one previous champion highlight the prospective fields for the Dubai World Cup meeting to be held at sprawling Meydan Racecourse in Dubai Saturday, Mar. 30. The connections of 106 horses from no fewer than 12 racing jurisdictions have accepted invitations to the eight Thoroughbred races on a $30.5-million program that begins with the $1-million Dubai Kahayla Classic for the Purebred Arabians and concludes with the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup. The main event has attracted a field of 15 that is led by its defending champion...

The lightly raced Newgate (Into Mischief), last-out winner of the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 3 and Hopkins (Quality Road), narrowly second when last seen in the Feb. 10 GIII Palos Verdes S. at Santa Anita, will ship to Dubai for the G1 Dubai World Cup and G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 30, respectively, SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan confirmed in a message Sunday. An $850,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Newgate won the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. last February before being sidelined for 11 months. Runner-up to subsequent Palos Verdes...

Juddmonte Farms' recent G3 Burj Nahaar romper Laurel River (Into Mischief) will bypass the Mar. 30 G2 Godolphin Mile and will instead stretch out to 10 furlongs for the first time in the G1 Dubai World Cup, Garett O'Rourke, the manager of Juddmonte's American operation, told the TDN Thursday morning. "It's worth a try. There's $12 million reasons to do it," he said. The homebred winner of the seven-furlong GII Pat O'Brien S. when under the care of Bob Baffert in 2022, Laurel River was favored in many circles for...

An already stiff Japanese challenge for the Dubai World Cup programme at Meydan on March 30 was further fortified on Wednesday when it was announced that the Mikio Matsunaga-trained duo of Matenro Sky (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}), upset winner of the G2 Nakayama Kinen, and the three-year-old colt Ballon d'Or (Jpn) (New Year's Day) have accepted invitations to the G1 Dubai Turf and G2 UAE Derby, respectively. Netkeiba was first to report the news. The five-year-old Matenro Sky broke through at the stakes level in the Listed Rigel S. going a...

Winless since taking out Round 1 of the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge going this track's 1600 metres way back in January 2021 and second in this race the year prior, Military Law (Ire) (g, 9, Dubawi {Ire}--Marine Bleue {Ire}, by Desert Prince {Ire}) led home a 1-2 finish for his legendary sire in Saturday's G2 Al Maktoum Classic, besting a valiant Walk of Stars (Ire) by a length on the wire. Content on taking a chasing role as Aldous Huxley (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was hard-ridden to set fast early sections...

High-class juvenile Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is likely to begin his three-year-old campaign with a run in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4 according to trainer Adrian Murray. Bucanero Fuerte won three of his five starts as a two-year-old in the familiar colours of Amo Racing, producing his best effort when easily winning the G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh by four lengths from the subsequent G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio). On the sidelines since finishing well held in the...

Defending G1 Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) features among 868 individual horses from 19 countries nominated to run at the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting on Saturday, March 30. In total, more than 1,400 entries have been received across the nine races and Ushba Tesoro is one of 200 from Japan as he tries to become only the second dual winner of the $12-million Dubai World Cup (Sponsored by Emirates Airline) after Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in 2018 and 2019. Incidentally, Thunder Snow also won...

Newgrange (Violence) was doing well the morning after successfully defending his title in Saturday's GII San Pasqual Stakes and becoming racing's newest millionaire, according to his trainer, Phil D'Amato. "He came out of the race in great shape," said D'Amato, who collected his fifth stakes win at the Classic Meet to lead all trainers. Ridden for the first time Saturday by Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza, Newgrange broke on top and was never headed to score by a length as the 2-1 second choice. Newgate (Into Mischief), the 8-5 favorite...

Horse of the Year candidate and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day) will kick off his 5-year-old campaign in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Feb. 24. A subsequent start in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Mar. 30 could be in the cards as well. The Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trained C2 Racing Stable LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC colorbearer has breezed three times at Santa Anita since Christmas Eve, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 (9/58) Jan. 8. "He's gonna go over...

Two-time Grade I winner Defunded (Dialed In) will point towards the G1 Saudi Cup for new connections after having been privately purchased. The news, announced Saturday evening via a release, notes that the colt was bought for an undisclosed sum by Dr. Muhaideb Abdullah Almuhaideb's HDB Racing Stable, a new Saudi Arabian owner, and arrived in Saudi Arabia Dec. 18. "He is an exceptional horse and has the profile, hopefully, to be a great asset to Riyadh racing and to do well in the Saudi Cup," said Khalid Mishref. In...

Friday's G1 Tokyo Daishoten marked a first and much-anticipated battle between reigning G1 Dubai World Cup hero Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and the upstart 3-year-old Mick Fire (Jpn) (Sinister Minister), perfect in his seven starts and winner of the unofficial Japan Dirt Triple Crown this past season. The showdown never really materialized, however, as the latter never reached contention after playing up in the stalls, and the odds-on Ushba Tesoro ran down his commonly owner front-runner Wilson Tesoro (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) to successfully defend his title in the...