World Racing Weekly: Dubai Doubts & Paradise Rising

Dubai Doubts Can Bolster Hong Kong’s Champions Day

Hong Kong’s Champions Day at the end of April and the G1 Osaka Hai on April 5 in Japan could benefit from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which saw the UAE’s air defences down hundreds of drones and missiles during and after Dubai’s big World Cup prep night at Meydan on Saturday.

Super Saturday produced some exciting performances, the most notable being the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen-bound El Nasseeb and Meydaan who sprang into contention for the G1 Dubai World Cup. But after a weekend that saw 186 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and more than 800 drones fired at the UAE – mostly repelled – some horsemen have already pulled their horses out of intended engagements at the World Cup fixture on March 28.

With U.S./Israeli strikes on targets in Iran and retaliatory strikes by Iran continuing, there is uncertainty and concern among trainers, owners, jockeys and other participants about whether the lucrative event, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, will go ahead, and if it does, will it be safe? 

Potential participants are monitoring events, including Hong Kong’s Dennis Yip whose sprinter Fast Network is entered in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint, a contest Hong Kong has won with California Spangle, Amber Sky and Joy And Fun.

At Happy Valley races on Wednesday evening – around the time fellow trainer Chris So and jockey Karis Teetan were relieved to be checking in for a flight out of Dubai – Yip told Idol Horse, “We don’t have to make a decision for another week, so we’re watching the news closely.

“I’ll be watching social media to see what Mr. Trump says,” he added in reference to the U.S. President Donald Trump.  

Three of Japan’s best will not be risking a Dubai venture: Masquerade Ball, Jantar Mantar and Win Carnelian are out. 

Masquerade Ball, the G1 Tenno Sho Autumn hero, second in the Japanese Derby and the G1 Japan Cup, is being rerouted from the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic to the Osaka Hai at Hanshin.

That race looks exciting with last year’s G1 Tokyo Yushun winner Croix Du Nord and the G1 Takarazuka Kinen winner Meisho Tabaru already expected to make the field. 

Then there is Museum Mile, last year’s G1 Arima Kinen and G1 Satsuki Sho victor: as things stand, the Sunday Racing-owned four-year-old is still in the mix for the G1 Dubai Turf, but connections have stated either the Osaka Hai or the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Champions Day at Sha Tin are the options if Dubai is shelved.

Meanwhile, Win Carnelian will go to the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen instead of the Al Quoz Sprint, and the G1 Champions Mile on Champions Day is the new planned destination for star miler Jantar Mantar. The five-year-old has matured into champion material since his last, disappointing visit to Sha Tin in December 2024 when 13th in the G1 Hong Kong Mile. His wins in the G1 Yasuda Kinen and the G1 Mile Championship last year make him one of the world’s best milers.

The Shadai Racing-owned star is a major draw among fans and would be a big boost to the Champions Mile, which has struggled to attract genuinely champion-calibre overseas contenders in recent years. Last year’s race, won by Red Lion, attracted four overseas runners and must rank as one of the weakest editions ever – Japanese galloper Gaia Force ran 9th, Goemon 11th, and Australian pair Royal Patronage (12th) and Mr Brightside (13th) finished at the tail.

Japan’s world star Forever Young is already in Dubai – as is Godolphin’s incredible global traveller Rebel’s Romance who won easily on Super Saturday – and reports suggest the events have not affected the horses at Meydan, which is on the city’s rim, away from targeted areas. 

But risk remains as long as the conflict continues and with that in mind, Japan’s contingent for the races, should they go ahead, could be depleted further. Recent G1 February Stakes winner Costa Nova, an intended runner in the G2 Godolphin Mile, is another whose connections are waiting to see if the conflict eases.
Katsunori Arayama, trainer of the eight-year-old Diktaean, knows this might be the only shot at the Dubai World Cup for his stable star who is in the form of his life after wins in the G3 Korea Cup and G1 Tokyo Daishoten at his last two starts, but the Kawasaki Kinen is an alternative, if needed.

It would be “a huge pity” if Diktaean could not go to Dubai, Arayama told Japanese media, and those words could be applied to the entire situation.  

This Week In Horse Racing History

The Aga Khan’s homebred colt Shergar was born on March 3 1978 and would go on to win the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before finding unwanted fame beyond the sport when he was kidnapped by the IRA, never to be seen again. 

One day later, on March 4 1978, the Bold Ruler gelding Prospect Point, a seven-time winner in minor grades in the United States, was born and would become one of the longest-lived thoroughbreds ever recorded, dying in 2016 at the age of 38 years and 203 days. 

Julie Krone set a new high benchmark of wins by a female jockey at Aqueduct on March 6, 1988 when she rode Squawter to become her 1,205th winner. Krone retired in 2004 with 3,704 wins.

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

Shane Dye’s Idol Thoughts column is always a must-read and this week he gives his analysis of last Sunday’s Hong Kong Classic Cup in which Little Paradise’s defeat and the previously unconsidered Stormy Grove’s victory muddied the Hong Kong Derby waters.

Shane Dye

The Classic Cup That Left Us With More Questions Than Answers

After Iranian-fired missiles and drones filled the night sky on Dubai Super Saturday, many horse racing participants around the Middle East were stranded as air travel was suspended. David Morgan spoke to some of those in Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar as the conflict continued.

David Morgan

“It’s Scary, You Just Don’t Know What To Do”: Uncertainty For Racing As Gulf Conflict Continues

Tentryis is the latest Australian sprinter being touted as the next big thing and as the Godolphin colt heads into this Saturday’s Newmarket Handicap at Flemington, Adam Pengilly reports on the interest Ka Ying Rising’s jockey Zac Purton is taking in the horse that could be his biggest challenger when The Everest comes around.

Adam Pengilly

Tentyris v Ka Ying Rising? The Everest Showdown The World Wants

Racing Photo Of The Week

Date
1 March, 2026

Photographer
@DXBMediaOffice

Location
Meydan Racecourse, Dubai

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Global Blackbook

Paradise showed that she is on the road towards the top grade when winning the Listed 

Busher Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday, a Kentucky Oaks Championship Series race over a mile on dirt.

The Brad Cox-trained and Manny Franco-ridden filly broke well, raced willingly when tracking the front rank, then pulled three wide entering the turn and ran home relentlessly in the home straight, grinding away from the runner-up Nycon to win by three and three-quarter lengths. 
The Gun Runner three-year-old – a US$700,000 Fasig-Tipton yearling out of the multiple Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed mare Venetian Harbor – debuted for second at Churchill Downs in November and has won her next two starts.

Cox said the G3 Gazelle Stakes on April 4 could be next.

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

New Zealand Derby Day
Ellerslie, New Zealand, March 7

New Zealand Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory will take on the boys in the absence of her exported Oaks conqueror Ohope Wins. But Autumn Glory is no understudy, the filly having already shown her class with victory in the G2 Waikato Guineas. The best of the colts will be tough to crack, though, and leading that pack are the first and second from the G2 Avondale Guineas, the clear winner That’s Gold and the running-on Road To Paris.

Newmarket Handicap Day 
Flemington, Australia, March 7

Tentyris is out to prove he’s Australia’s next great sprinter, and maybe even a match for Ka Ying Rising in next season’s The Everest. The Godolphin colt is favourite to follow-up his recent win in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes with a victory in the G1 Newmarket Handicap. He faces a field of classy speedsters including Angel Capital and My Gladiola.

Canterbury Stakes Day
Randwick, Australia, March 7

Joliestar looks set to head to Randwick on Saturday rather than defend her Newmarket Handicap title at Flemington. The Chris Waller-trained mare is the antepost favourite to win the Canterbury Stakes over 1300m and faces her stablemates Beiwacht and Lady Shenandoah, as well as Linebacker and Yorkshire from the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton yard.

H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes Day
Turffontein, South Africa, March 7

See It Again will attempt to back-up his incredible win in the G1 Cape Town Met last start for jockey Andrew Fortune and trainer Justin Snaith, this time with Richard Fourie in the saddle due to Fortune having a broken shoulder and collarbone. Alec Laird, who trained Horse Chestnut, will send out Fire Attack and Atticus Finch, while King’s Plate winner The Real Prince will seek revenge for his third-place finish in the Cape Town Met last time.

Golden Slipper Day
Rosehill, Australia, March 21

Warwoven is a weak antepost favourite for Australia’s greatest two-year-old race, in a year in which no juvenile has yet stepped forward and shown genuine star quality. The Bjorn Baker-tained colt won his first two but was only fourth in the G2 Skyline Stakes last time. Also high in the order is the Baker-trained Paradoxium who has accepted for the Todman Stakes at Randwick this Saturday.  ∎

Idol Horse

2026 Hong Kong Derby: Power Rankings, March 3

Adam Pengilly

Makybe Diva: A Champion Became A Legend, Then Healed Lives After Racing