Racing under the floodlights doesn’t get any better than this. Meydan host’s Dubai World Cup Night on Saturday and the card is a spectacle to behold. There are six Group 1 races to look forward to, including the feature contest, the Dubai World Cup.
It’s truly an international affair, with the feature contest seeing five different countries represented including Uruguay and Japan! We’ll have horse racing tips for all the action, including Meydan, but here is our 40-1 accumulator for a truly unmissable night!
With a course record that reads 2111111, it’s very difficult to oppose Midnight Sands in the opener for Doug Watson. Disappointing in the United States to close out last year, he was weak in the market prior to his Meydan return earlier this month. He shrugged off both the absence and a drift to come away an empathic winner from off the pace. In a race where it paid to be prominent, it’s an easy effort to upgrade.
He beat today’s main rivals, Chiefdom and Tuz, in comfortable fashion, and he should confirm the placings today. An uncomplicated performer, he’ll be positioned handily by Pat Dobbs, who will use his smart turn of foot to fly past the leaders late on for a remarkable seventh course victory.
Six pounds clear on ratings from his nearest rival, it’s very difficult to oppose Space Blues in the Al Quoz Sprint. Charlie Appleby’s star bids for a six-timer after a remarkable sequence that has seen him go from strength to strength. He posted a career-best on his final start of 2020, winning the Prix Maurice de Gheest in impressive fashion, before a facile return success at Riyadh over seven furlongs.
In terms of distance, he’d probably prefer further on most other days. That being said, this is likely to be a burn-up and stamina will come into the picture late on. William Buick will have plenty of options, given that this horse can race prominently if needed, but he’s more than likely to sit cold in the opening furlongs. Once the leaders begin to tire, that’s when Buick can use his mount’s wicked turn of foot to saunter by late on.
With just one blemish on his copybook thus far, Yaupon can get back on track today for Steve Asmussen and Joel Rosario. He breezed through his first four starts, winning the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga back in August in facile fashion. That performance was followed up by an effortless Grade 3 Chick Lang success, with his sole defeat coming in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint back in November.
That defeat is forgivable, however, as he ultimately chased a pace that collapsed down the back before being badly hampered early in the stretch. He’s capable of far better than that and he remains unexposed after just a handful of starts. Rosario has won two of the last three renewals of the Dubai Golden Shaheen and with North American winning four of the last five renewals, there’s a huge amount to like about his chances.
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