The richest night of racing on the global calendar, the Dubai World Cup card attract some of the biggest names from all over the world.
Some of the Dubai World Cup races will be run on dirt for the first time since 2010 after the track removed the synthetic surface last year, a change that has convinced the connections of California Chrome and Lea to send their horses over for the richest race in the world.
Overall, American trainers have sent 14 horses to Dubai for the day's eight Thoroughbred races, but none of the races will be a cake walk for any U.S. entry. Let's take a look at three of the biggest races on the card and learn about some of the horses â both U.S.-based and international â that fans should know before tuning into the March 28 event at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Dubai World Cup
California Chrome is the first U.S. Horse of the Year to ship over to Dubai for the world's richest race since Curlin in 2008. The chestnut colt looks to repeat the feat of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, who won the race in 2013 when it was still on a synthetic surface. California Chrome's last race was a second-place finish to Shared Belief in the Feb. 7 San Antonio Invitational Stakes but it's not as though he is coming into the race off of a big losing streak as he won a Grade 1 on the turf in the Hollywood Derby last November. One small worry for California Chrome is that he hasn't won on dirt since the 2014Preakness Stakes, but in the San Antonio Stakes he was 6½ lengths ahead of the third-place finisher, so he can definitely still run well on the surface.
African Story is an interesting case in this race. The eight-year-old gelding won last year's edition of the race on the synthetic surface and was the first horse since Curlin to win a post-Dubai World Cup race when he won on March 7 of this year. However, in his first race back since winning last year's Dubai World Cup, African Story finished seventh on Feb. 5 of this year. There are questions about how good the field was in his March 7 race, but it is a plus for those who like him that he is coming into the World Cup with a victory under his belt. African Story will be trying to become the first horse to win two Dubai World Cups in the 20-year history of the race.
Epiphaneia is another interesting World Cup contender. The Japanese runner has never had a race on dirt but has been good on turf, winning the Japan Cup last fall. There are a lot of questions around him even though he is a two-time Group 1 winner because of his lack of dirt experience. He does have a few things going for him when it comes to his chances of winning though. His trainer Katsuhiko Sumii won the World Cup in 2011 with Victoire Pisa, so the horse should be well prepared for the long trip to Dubai. Epiphania is also by Symboli Kris S, who has been a fairly successful dirt sire in Japan, showing that dirt isn't totally out of Epiphania's realm of possibility.
UAE Derby
One of three horses nominated for the United States Triple Crown in the United Arab Emirates Derby, Maftool is coming into the UAE Derby off of a close win in the UAE Two Thousand Guineas over Mubtaahij. Maftool is a two-time group stakes winner with those wins coming on dirt and turf, proving that he is a versatile sort. If Maftool wins the UAE Derby, he will earn 100 points toward the Kentucky Derby and his pedigree does indicate that he should be able to handle American dirt racing. His sire, Hard Spun, was second in the 2007 Kentucky Derby and his dam's half-brother (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) is Abraaj, who won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. Owned by Godolphin, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see Maftool in the Kentucky Derby if he does well on March 28.
Mubtaahij is trained by the successful Mike de Kock, who isn't really known for dirt horses. But this winter, he has prepared Mubtaahij to perfection on the Meydan main track. Mubtaahij won three of his four pre-UAE Derby starts on dirt this winter with his only loss coming to Maftool in February. Nominated for the Kentucky Derby, Mubtaahij caught the eye of a fair amount of Americans when he beat Uruguayan Triple Crown winner Sir Fever by 2½ lengths in the local prep for this race on March 7. By the great turf sire Dubawi, Mubtaahij's pedigree doesn't exactly scream dirt, as he is also a half-brother to a European champion (Europe's biggest races are traditionally run on turf) but his form shows that he can handle it, especially against those in Dubai. De Kock has said the Kentucky Derby is a dream for the connections and a win in the UAE Derby would help them take another step toward accomplishing that goal.
My Johnny Be Good is the lone U.S. representative in the UAE Derby and heads to the race after finishing eighth in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7. My Johnny Be Good does have a few wins on his record, however, with a 1¼-length maiden victory in September and a ridiculously easy 14½-length romp in a late December allowance. My Johnny Be Good's connections have Dubai-winning experience as his trainer Eoin Harty trained 2009 Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed, a horse owned by WinStar Farm, which at the time was partially owned by Bill Casner, the sole owner of My Johnny Be Good. If My Johnny Be Good wins the UAE Derby, he will become the first horse trained by a U.S.-based trainer to win the race (note: multiple horses have raced in the United States prior to their UAE Derby wins, but none was trained by a U.S.-based trainer when they won the race).
Dubai Sheema Classic
Named the 2014 Eclipse Award winner as champion older male and turf male, Main Sequence is looking to become the first U.S.-based horse to win the Dubai Sheema Classic. Main Sequence has foreign experience, as he spent his first three seasons of racing in England, where he finished second in an English classic race in 2012. The gelding was transferred to Graham Motion in early 2014 and reeled off four Grade 1 victories last year, headlined by the Breeders' Cup Turf in November. He won his prep for this race, the Mac Diarmida Stakes, and looks like he is going to Dubai in the best possible shape. Trainer Motion is returning to Dubai two years after winning the Dubai World Cup with Animal Kingdom, and the trainer is also hoping to run Quadrivium in the Godolphin Mile. If Main Sequence is able to win the race, he will be the first Breeders' Cup Turf winner to win the Sheema Classic since St. Nicholas Abbey won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Turf and 2013 Dubai Sheema Classic.
A highly regarded entry in the Dubai Sheema Classic is the Hong Kong-based Designs on Rome. Starting his career in Ireland, Designs on Rome didn't really blossom until he made his move to Hong Kong in the middle of 2013. Since then, he has become a solid high-class graded stakes horse in the country. The gelding has multiple Group 1 wins over the past two years and is coming into this race on a three-race winning streak that includes two Group 1 victories, including one over Helene Super Star, who won the 2013 UAE Derby when he was running under the name Lines of Battle. One disadvantage for Designs on Rome is that in his only start at the Dubai Sheema Classic distance of 12 furlongs, he finished fifth, although he hasn't attempted that distance again and that loss came last May.
Flintshire could get his revenge against Main Sequence in the Dubai Sheema Classic. The French-trained horse was the second choice behind Telescope in the Breeders' Cup Turf last year but lost to Main Sequence by a half-length after having a slight lead with an eighth of a mile left to go. Flintshire traveled to Hong Kong a month and half later and won the Hong Kong Vase to end his year on a high note after finishing second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Breeders' Cup Turf in his two previous races. In his 2015 prep for this race, Flintshire was second by a short neck to Dolniya, who is also in the Sheema Classic, but that was over an all-weather surface where Flintshire didn't look to have the kick that he has on turf. If Flintshire wins the Sheema Classic, he will be the second horse to do so from the Juddmonte Farms-Andre Fabre connection. Juddmonte and Fabre also teamed to win this race with Polish Summer in 2004.
