10 runners to watch at the Dubai World Cup

DUBAI: A rough estimate suggests that we’ll see around 34 Group or Grade 1 winners compete for $30.5 million across the nine races at the Dubai World Cup meeting on Saturday, March 26. Here’s a few who you might want to watch out for at Meydan.

1. Life Is Good (Dubai World Cup)

He’s just really … good. So good, he’s only been beaten once, in fact, and that came on his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher and after a break. The four-year-old is the Dubai World Cup favorite and rightly so. He beat the best horse in the world, Knicks Go, last time and is likely to blaze a trail from the front. The only question? He’s yet to run the 2,000 meters of the Dubai World Cup distance.

2. Hot Rod Charlie (Dubai World Cup)

Lying in wait for Life Is Good is Hot Rod Charlie. An unlucky horse — he was once disqualified for getting in the way of a rival — he warmed up for this race with smooth success over 1,900 meters in the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2, so we know he likes the track. He’s also small and “bug-eyed,” in the words of one of his owners. There’s a lot to like about “Chuck.”

3. Aero Trem (Dubai World Cup)

This is a cool horse. Bred in Brazil and trained for much of his life in Uruguay, Aero Trem overcame a life-threatening illness to win one of the biggest races in South America; the G1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano in October. Then he came to Dubai, trained here, before hopping over to Saudi and running an excellent fifth in the Saudi Cup. He might not be able to win, but he will be flying the flag high for his racing-mad nation.

4. Yibir (Sheema Classic)

Yibir is talented. He proved that when winning the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf. He’s also tricky, so much so that trainer Charlie Appleby has kept him at home in