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 The trophies for all the Dubai World Cup card races. The total purses are over $21 million, the richest night of racing anywhere in the world.
Dubai World Cup card results & photos |
The world's richest race meeting and the world's richest horse race, the $6 million Dubai World Cup, will be conducted at Nad al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai on Saturday. On Wednesday evening the post positions were drawn for the Dubai World Cup (G1), which features some of the best older horses in the world going 2000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) on the main dirt track. Post positions for the big race and the undercard races are available below. An online racecard is available from Dubai Racing Club where you can click on each horse's name to get a form summary. Daily Racing Form has free past performances for the Dubai World Cup only here. A Form Guide which has past performances for the entire card is also available from Emirates Racing in PDF format.
In the World Cup, expected favorite Albertus Maximus drew post 10 in the field of 14. His trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said, "We're very happy with the draw. We wanted to be outside of Well Armed as he's the speed in the race. If he goes to the lead we can take back a little. Now Albertus Maximus can break and relax and still be forwardly placed. Its hard to be as confident as we were with Invasor because Invasor was a great horse, but we are confident and Albertus Maximus is doing very well."
Well Armed drew post 7 and his owner, William Casner said "We're absolutely thrilled to be here and we think our horse loves this track. We just hope we have a safe trip and we are there at the finish. The post is the middle of the field, its dead center."
The other US-based entrant, Anak Nakal, was not as fortunate and drew post 12. His owner Kassem Masri said, "We would have liked post 5. He didn't like the track last time but hopefully he'll do it this time. So far so good, he likes the track."
 The sheikhs and all the connections of the horses at the draw for the 2009 Dubai World Cup. |
The undercard features the two richest turf races in the world, the 2400 meter (about 1 1/2 mile) Sheema Classic (G1) and the 1777 meter (about 1 1/8 mile) Duty Free (G1), worth $5 million each, and as a result, attracting the maximum field size of 16 runners. In the Sheema Classic, top choice Youmzain, who finished second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe drew post 6 while the well-travelled Purple Moon drew post 13. His trainer Richard Gibson was unconcerned about the wide post and said, "We had a wide draw last year when he ran well to finish third, so I'm not too worried about the 13 box. He loves the heat and we hope he will run another great race." In the Duty Free defending champion Gladiatorus was unlucky and drew post 15 in the field of 16. One of the pre-race favorites, Paco Boy drew gate 13 and his trainer trainer Richard Hannon was extremely upset at the poor post and said, "The one place I did not want to be is on the outside so having drawn 13 I am tempted to get the next plane home!!"
Along with the four Group 1 events, there are 2 Group 2 events carded. The $2 million UAE Derby features northern hemisphere 3-year-olds and southern hemisphere 4-year-olds, with Godolphin's Desert Party hoping to earn a ticket to Kentucky with a win here. The first race on Saturday night's card is the $250,000 Dubai Kahayla Classic (G1) at 2000 meters (1 1/4 miles) on dirt for Purebred Arabians and the $1 million Godolphin Mile at 1600 meters (1 mile) on the dirt is the first Thoroughbred race and the second race on the card.
| Post Time | Race Name | ||
| 9:40 a.m. ET | Godolphin Mile | ||
| 10:15 a.m. ET | UAE Derby | ||
| 10:55 a.m. ET | Dubai Golden Shaheen | ||
| 11:55 a.m. ET | Dubai Duty Free (T) | ||
| 12:40 p.m. ET | Dubai Sheema Classic (T) | ||
| 1:30 p.m. ET | Dubai World Cup |
Since betting is illegal in the UAE, the international wagering hub is located in South Africa and their rules apply. Win, exacta, and trifecta wagering are the same as the American versions, however, there is no show pool but bets to place pay to third place, like a show bet normally would. Since Dubai won't do odds, the morning line odds shown below are from Ladbrokes in the UK as of Wednesday evening. US odds will probably differ greatly from these as the US horses always get bet more here than in the UK.
The races will be shown live in North America on TVG in the U.S. and HPI-TV in Canada, and the full card will be broadcast live online at ESPN360.com. ESPN360 may or may not be free depending on your location and internet provider, but the website will tell you if you can get it or not. Below are the post times for each of the races that will be simulcast in the US followed by the entries and post positions for the Dubai World Cup.
| Post | Horse | Weight | Trainer | Jockey | M/L Odds |
| 1 | Muhannak (IRE) | 126 | R Beckett | R Moore | 40-1 |
| 2 | Arson Squad (USA) | 126 | R Dutrow Jr | E Prado | 33-1 |
| 3 | Snaafy (USA) | 126 | M Al Muhairi | R Hills | 10-1 |
| 4 | Asiatic Boy (ARG) | 126 | M de Kock | J Murtagh | 3-1 |
| 5 | Happy Boy (BRZ) | 126 | M bin Shafya | A Ajtebi | 33-1 |
| 6 | Glória De Campeão (BRZ) | 126 | P Bary | J Leme | 25-1 |
| 7 | Well Armed (USA) | 126 | E Harty | A Gryder | 10-1 |
| 8 | Casino Drive (USA) | 126 | K Fujisawa | K Ando | 4-1 |
| 9 | Joe Louis (ARG) | 126 | J Barton | W Ramos | 66-1 |
| 10 | Albertus Maximus (USA) | 126 | K McLaughlin | A Garcia | 5-2 |
| 11 | Muller (ARG) | 126 | N Bruss | W Marwing | 33-1 |
| 12 | Anak Nakal (USA) | 126 | N Zito | J Bravo | 40-1 |
| 13 | Paris Perfect (SAF) | 126 | N Bruss | B Faydherbe | 66-1 |
| 14 | My Indy (ARG) | 126 | S bin Suroor | L Dettori | 10-1 |
Entries and post positions for the entire card in a printer friendly format | |||||
Left: Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is interviewed after his charge Albertus Maximus draws post 10. When his turn came up, only four posts were left: 1, 5, 10, and 12. Since post 1 at Nad al Sheba for this distance is very bady and since they want Albertus Maximus to track likely pacesetter Well Armed from the outside, they were satisfied with post 10. McLaughlin said, "We did not want the 1 hole at all. I'm happy with where we drew."
Right: South African trainer Mike de Kock has 10 horses running in the Mile, Duty Free, Sheema Classic, and World Cup. Speaking generally of all his runners on the night, he said, "I must be born lucky, none of mine have drawn really badly." Kevin Shea, de Kock's regular jockey added, "Things haven't gone our way for the last month or so then boom! Everything just goes perfect tonight. I'm delighted with a wider draw for Alexandros in the Dubai Duty Free because of the speed. They're gonna go mad, trust me. I promise you the best horse will win the Dubai Duty Free and I think I'm on the best horse. Then the news was even better with gate one for Front House in the Dubai Sheema Classic. If someone was to take it up we'll box seat just like Sun Classique last year. And if no one wants to lead I'll make the pace and they just won't get past her. The news is good for the stable in the Dubai World Cup with Albertus Maximus drawn out wide. I think he is maybe a doubtful stayer at the 2000m distance and he's going to be tested now from barrier 10."
The post position draw for the Dubai World Cup was held at the Madinat Jumeirah Resort which is a gorgeous castle like building in a complex that includes the resort, shopping, and meeting facilities. Part of the facilities is the Burj Al Arab hotel, the world's tallest all suite hotel which resembles a sailboat and has any luxury you can imagine. Here are two views with the hotel in the background, one during the day and one at night.
More scenic views of the lovely grounds at Madinat Jumeirah. In addition to the hotel, it also includes a shopping mall, resort, spa, and meeting facilities.
Dubai World Cup Links:
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