26th Dubai World Cup may be best ever

DUBAI: The Dubai World Cup is now in its 26th year, but this running might be one of the best ever. The $12 million feature race has a field of 11, six of which are Grade 1 winners. One of them, the favorite Life Is Good, has only been beaten once.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sends the four-year-old over from the US where he’s won the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the Pegasus World Cup on his last two starts. That’s the best form on offer and he’s drawn an advantageous post in one.

“I’m very happy with him, his weight looks good, I think he handled the ship in perfectly,” said Pletcher of Life Is Good, who will run over 2,000 meters for the first time on Saturday. “The Pegasus was his first time at a mile and an eighth and he handled that well, so we’ve focused on just some good, stamina-building breezes and strong gallop outs. He does everything so willingly; he likes doing it, enjoys his job, and all his work has been super good.”

Life Is Good won’t find his opposition easy to roll over, however, as they include fellow Group 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie, who warmed up for this with a smooth win in the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2 here last time. That proved he handled the track and the Doug O’Neill trainee is a worthy second choice in the race. Up against them are two more Americans, Country Grammer and Midnight Bourbon, plus Aero Trem, trained in Uruguay by Antonio Cintra, and last year’s third Magny Cours, trained in France by Andre Fabre.

And that’s just the World Cup. The supporting nine races also have extremely strong fields and they include the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic. Contenders for this include Godolphin’s quirky Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir, who trainer Charlie Appleby says is hard to predict.