Whether the show must go on – that’s debatable. But the show will go on and fields have been assembled for the Dubai World Cup meeting Saturday at Meydan Racecourse. Post positions for the World Cup card’s Group 1 races weren’t yet drawn Monday, but entries with jockey assignments are, and nine horses went into the $12 million World Cup. But while Hit Show seeks a World Cup repeat, he doesn’t come close to qualifying as the star of this show, not with Forever Young participating. Forever Young finished third in the 2025 World Cup, sapped by an epic Saudi Cup battle with Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior the month before. A second Saudi Cup win in February came in much more measured fashion and followed his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, making Forever Young not only the best horse in the Dubai World Cup, but the best dirt horse in the world. Forever Young shipped directly from Saudi Arabia to Dubai and has trained steadily at Meydan for weeks. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi and jockey Ryusei Sakai arrived Monday from Japan, and, despite an ongoing regional war, there have been no recent major defections from any of the major World Cup races. A missile warning delayed the Meydan racing program on March 13, but since that time the pace of Iranian attacks on United Arab Emirates targets has slowed considerably. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The 2,000-meter World Cup also drew Magnitude, Meydaan, Imperial Emperor, Tumbarumba, Walk of Stars, Heart of Honor, and Tap Leader. Florent Geroux, aboard for last year’s win, has the call on Hit Show, while Jose Ortiz will travel to take the mount on Magnitude. And while Meydaan has emerged as a local force after co-trainers Simon and Ed Crisford moved him to dirt this winter, Magnitude poses the main threat to Forever Young. Carlos Rosas has served as trainer Steve Asmussen’s work rider for so long that he traveled to Dubai with Curlin when he won the 2008 World Cup at the old Nad al Sheba track. Rosas and an Asmussen groom traveled to meet Magnitude in Dubai, and assistant trainer Scott Blasi – who spent weeks overseas with Curlin 18 years ago – will join them this week to saddle the colt. Blasi, this past weekend at Fair Grounds, said Rojas had provided glowing reports on Magnitude, who handled the long ship with aplomb and had trained with verve over the Meydan surface, breezing an eye-catching half mile Saturday. The Group 1 Sheema Classic over 1 1/2 miles on turf had only six final declarations, and while the great Rebel’s Romance was not among them, the Sheema does include another great turf horse, Calandagan, as well as Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Ethical Diamond. Seven of Ethical Diamond’s 15 starts came in jumps races, but trainer Willie Mullins switched him to the flat last June and Ethical Diamond’s third straight win after the change resulted in a BC Turf upset of Rebel’s Romance. Merely repeating that performance won’t beat Calandagan, who comes to the Sheema Classic on a four-race win streak encompassing the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Ascot, the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot, and the Japan Cup at Tokyo, a race an international shipper hadn’t captured since 2005. Godolphin’s Ombudsman heads 11 declarations for the Group 1 Dubai Turf over 1,800 meters, and while no Americans shipped for the two grass routes, they could figure prominently in sprint races on dirt and turf. Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Bentornato will be heavily favored under Ortiz to win the Dubai Golden Shaheen, for which the Wesley Ward-trained Nakatomi also shipped. California-based Lovesick Blues ran in Saudi Arabia and went directly to Dubai for the Golden Shaheen. So did Reef Runner, who landed the 1351 Turf Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard and starts Saturday in the Group 1 Al Quoz, a 1,200-meter straight-course dash, for trainer David Fawkes. Banishing, unplaced in the Saudi Cup, went directly to Meydan and runs in the Godolphin Mile. Saudi-based Al Haram, winner of the Saudi Derby, was unable to ship for the UAE Derby, which drew a dozen final declarations including the Japan-based pair of Pyromancer and Wonder Dean. The UAE Derby is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and its winner will earn one of the 20 Derby starting slots. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.