Check out the five main contenders for Saturday’s Dubai World Cup
Published:
West Coast heads the betting
The Dubai World Cup is the feature contest on a nine-race card from Meydan on Saturday night.
Up to 10 runners will line-up for the 23rd iteration of the 10f renewal which concludes the richest day in horse racing.
The Coral News Team have previewed the main event by looking at the five main contenders for this year’s race.
West Coast
Arrogate won this contest for trainer Bob Baffert for the first time in 2017. Now the 65-year-old is back with another favourite – West Coast. The four-year-old raider has not won since dominating Irap in the Pennsylvania Derby back in September 2017.
Since then he has been touched off by Gun Runner twice over both 1m 2f and 1m 1f. The son of Flatter won’t have to deal with the Pegasus World Cup winner this time, though. And with a slight reduction in trip also adding to his cause, West Coast is a worthy favourite once again for Baffert.
Talismanic
Andre Fabre’s charge is currently considered the most likely challenger to the jolly. He’s been hitting the frame consistently in France and recently saw off favourite Cloth of Stars to win the Prix Darshaan at Chantilly.
The five-year-old’s black-type form doesn’t make for overly impressive reading. Although a 14/1 victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf is evidence of what he is capable of. The reduction in trip makes the British-bred raider an interesting proposition in Dubai.
North America
Trained by Satish Seemar, North America is the home favourite at Meydan. The six-year-old has won five from eight around the course since transferring from Charlie Appleby in 2016. He tends to favour the 1m distance, so the 1m¼f afforded to him here should be to his liking.
A 5l victory over Thunder Snow earlier in the month should hold the son of Dubawi in good stead for this one. If he runs to his potential, he could hit the frame.
Forever Unbridled
Forever Unbridled is in lovely form heading into the weekend meeting. The six-year-old has won two Group 1 contests in a row and has the luxury of going fresh at Meydan. She hasn’t raced since November 2017.
That should be good news for Dallas Stewart’s runner, who tends to do her best work after a short break. However, it’ll still be an evening of firsts for the American champion mare.
This’ll be her first time competing outside of the United States and her first time going up against the boys. Those are two daunting prospects for potential backers.
But as the daughter of Unbridled’s Song – the sire of Arrogate – she certainly has the family to warrant a major tilt.
Thunder Snow
British interest comes from Thunder Snow. Though trained by Saeed Bin Suroor, the Godolphin colt began life at Leicester, Goodwood, Ascot and the like.
Since then, the four-year-old has racked up five Group victories, including in the Prix Jean Prat, UEA Derby and UEA 2000 Guineas. Recent form is less impressive. But a return to a slightly shorter distance should help the son of Helmet.
He’s got plenty of experience around Meydan and has never failed to hit the frame in Dubai.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
