2023 Dubai World Cup

They used to say that all roads lead to Rome. Now they all seem to lead to Louisville, whether you're starting from the desert or up the road in Florence, Kentucky. Some of us, even so, still miss the forgotten turnpike long favored by horsemen of the old school. In fact, there are times when I fear that we might actually have found ourselves on the road that is notoriously paved with good intentions. Saturday opens the third cycle of rehearsals offering starting points for the GI Kentucky Derby. The...

Dubai's Super Saturday meeting at Meydan Racecourse saw World Pool's globally commingled turnover increase over 2022's figure by HK$18.9m (approx. $2.4m) to HK$224,802,517 (approx. $28.6m) across the eight races. The Ras Al Khor conditions race, which was won by Godolphin's Al Suhail (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}], saw the highest jump to HK$33,518,763 (approx. $4.3m) in total monies bet on the contest. Both Group 1 races on the card saw figures surpassing HK$30m, with the G1 Jebel Hatta raking in HK$33,366,784 (approx. $4.3m) and the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3 drawing HK$31,560,463...

Duke Wai (NZ) (Per Incanto)'s victory in the Devon H. at Sha Tin Sunday could trigger a start in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard, trainer Pierre Ng confirmed following the race. "If we get an invitation from Dubai, we'll go to Dubai. I would love to see him run in a straight 1200m race because, in the past, he's run very well in straight 1000m races here, but there's no straight 1200m races here," Ng said of the 7-year-old, who took his career earnings...

Defending G1 Dubai World Cup hero Country Grammer (Tonalist) is one of over 1,600 entries, including 892 individual horses from 21 countries, entered in the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup night card. The featured event, sponsored by Emirates Airline, attracted 171 entries. Of the 24 Group or Grade 1 winners besides the Zedan Racing-owned and Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammer, is the duo's three-time Grade I winner Taiba (Gun Runner). Joining them could be a pair of longshot headliners from last year; namely, GI Kentucky Derby champ Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and...

by Heather Anderson and J.N. Campbell With New Year's celebrations firmly in the rearview, racing eyes turn to Dubai, as the $7.5-million Dubai World Cup Carnival kicks off at Meydan Racecourse. The DWCC culminates on Super Saturday, Mar. 4, the warmup for the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup card slated for Mar. 26. Of the seven races carded, five are black-type level and there are a quartet of stakes contests set to be decided in the desert on Friday. Anchoring the action is the $250,000 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1...