Whistle jacket
Dubai World Cup Meeting 2026
As if it wasn't bad enough having drones and missiles flying around it's now raining in Dubai.
Many people were of the opinion that the meeting should have been cancelled but they already had some top horses in Dubai coming in after the Saudi Cup and others that had been wintering there so the decision was made to steam ahead.
It has been a bit of a blessing for the local horses as there are not so may invaders especially in the G2 races, but of course fields are down with only six in the Sheema and nine in the Cup.
Anyhow here goes with a look at them starting as usual with the Godolphin Mile on the dirt where strangely there are no Godolphin runners but plenty Seemars, one of which Commissioner King is favourite on 9/4 ahead of stablemate Mendelssohn Bay and we are also putting in another stablemate Zanvoort 16/1 as a roughie. Amongst these we are also putting on David of Athens on 10/1 for Al Jehani-James Doyle after the Wathnan horse ran much better in his last outing.
The Dubai Gold Cup G2 is over 3200m on turf and has 10 runners and Joseph O'Brien has two here with good chances – Al Riffa 6/4 (who ran in the Melbourne Cup) and Sons And Lovers 5/1 who won in Saudi and will have Ryan Moore on board. David Menusier's Sunway is on 7.1 and our roughie here is Burdett Road 25/1 – James Owen and Luke Morris.
The UAE Derby G2 has 12 3yos over 1900m and the Japanese Pyromancer is owned by Godolphin but races in Japan until now. He's on 11/4, is by Pyro, and James Doyle rides.
Six Speed is on 3/1 for Seemar-Barzalona and is by Not This Time who is also the sire of a couple of Kentucky Derby prospects. A win here would give him a chance to go and compete against his brothers! Godolphin Appleby-Buick have Devon Island 7/1 and he's by Practical Joke, and our roughie here is Brotherly Love for the Osbornes, a very international horse with Zoustar his Aussie father and Ruby Love his Chileno dam.
The Al Quoz Sprint is the first of the G1s and is on turf over 1200m with 13 starters. Wathnan's Lazzat looks the go here and is on 7/4 with James Doyle riding but the Japanese sprinter Lugal could be a threat – on 6/1. Reef Runner is on 5/1 and our roughie here is Khaadam on 14/1 for Charlie Hills and Richard Mullins.
The Golden Sheheen is also over 1200m but on dirt and favourite Bentornato 6/4 for d'Angelo and J L Ortiz will certainly be "welcome back" if he wins. El Nasseeb has done everything asked of him on the local scene and is on 11/2 and our roughie who isn't so rough is Dark Saffron on 20/1 who seems to have returned to form and will be looking to overturn the tables with El Nasseeb. Midland Money is in there too on 13/2 for Jebel Ali based Aussie trainer Michael Costa.
The Dubai Turf is over 1800m and has 11 running with the Gosden's Ombudsman having his first outing of the season and odds-on at 8/13 with Buick on board. If near his best he's in a better class than the opposition but some of them have the benefit of recent racing. Facteur Cheval is always a factor – owned by Team Valour he will be ridden by Barzalona and they are on 6/1. Gaia Force is a Japanese horse that we keep in the Little Black Book and this time Sakai has the ride and 7/1 is value. Fort George is another consistent type who is right in this and on 16/1 that puts him in roughie territory but he's much better than that price would indicate.
The Sheema is usually the best race of the night but this year's version is down to 6 and made that number when there was a last minute decision to send Calandagan. All he really needs to do here is stay upright and the recent rain will not be a problem. Should he get jet lag in the middle of the race Giavallotto could step up – he's on 9/1. 2400m is the trip on the turf.
The Cup itself is over 2000m on dirt and everything is focused on Forever Young who recently won his second Saudi Cup, was third in this last year and is on track to be the winningest (prize-money wise) horse in the world. We love him dearly and wish him luck – he's a very nice horse-person too. We have to put Tumbarumba into this as while we don't know if he has any Aussie connection we reckon the name is good enough and he was third in the Saudi Cup behind Forever Young. American star Magnitude missed out on Saudi owing to a foot problem and is well over that and will try to catch up on the prize money here. Steve Asmussen trains and J L Ortiz rides. They are on 6/1. Also in the mix the Seemar Imperial Emperor with Tadgh O'Shea up is also a place possibility on 10/1.
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