In June 2023, Auguste Rodin won the Derby at Epsom. In September he won the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, and in November he captured the Breeders’ Cup Turf. All that, and Auguste Rodin has his work cut out for him in the Sheema Classic on Saturday at Meydan Racecourse. Auguste Rodin makes his 4-year-old debut facing 11 rivals in the Group 1, $6 million Sheema Classic, a 1 1/2-mile grass race. Spirit Dancer and Point Lonsdale haven’t found success at the top level, but the other eight entrants are Group 1 winners. Japan-based horses have won the last two renewals of the Sheema, including the mighty Equinox, who dominated the 2023 edition. Shahryar finished fifth a year ago after winning the 2022 Sheema and recaptured some of his old glory with a third-place finish behind Auguste Rodin in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but he and Justin Palace are the second-string Japanese horses behind the 4-year-old filly Liberty Island and the 5-year-old mare Stars on Earth. Those two finished second and third, respectively, in the Japan Cup on Nov. 26, neither a match for Equinox, who galloped home a four-length winner. Though Liberty Island was one length clear of Stars on Earth in the Japan Cup, there’s little between the two. Filly triple crown winner Liberty Island makes her 4-year-old debut in the Sheema, her first start since the Japan Cup, which came at the end of a four-start campaign that began with Group 1 wins in Japan’s version of the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks. In her start prior to the Japan Cup, Liberty Island returned from a five-month layoff as the 1-10 favorite in the Group 1 Shuka Sho, the final leg of the series, over 1 1/4 miles, where she made a big move off the turn but was running on fumes at the wire as a horse named Masked Diva closed to within a length. Lightly raced and with room still to improve, Liberty Island is a major threat under Yuga Kawada. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Stars on Earth pulled the same Guineas-Oaks double during the 2022 season, and while she went winless last year, the mare turned in four strong races between one mile and 1 1/2 miles, coming back after the Japan Cup with a strong second behind high-class Do Deuce in the Arima Kinen over 1 9/16 miles. Junko, trained in France by Andre Fabre, upset the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase in December but has no other performances that would suffice in this Sheema. Rebel’s Romance isn’t the same horse as the one who landed the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf, but Emily Upjohn must be considered. To show her best, the mare requires firm ground, which she’ll get Saturday, and at her best Emily Upjohn is a multiple Group 1 winner over 1 1/2 miles. Auguste Rodin won two derbies last year over 1 1/2 miles as well as the BC Turf at the same distance, but he got a perfect ground-saving trip at short-stretch Santa Anita, and if he hits the peak of his powers going 1 1/4 miles, the long stretch at Meydan could leave him vulnerable. Dubai Turf He can’t do it again – can he? Lord North won the 2021 Dubai Turf, dead-heated for the win in 2022, and won it again in 2023. The 8-year-old is back for more, and while the competition appears a notch tougher this time, there’s no counting out Lord North in the Group 1, $5 million Dubai Turf. Lord North is based in England with co-trainers John and Thady Gosden, who have figured out the best way to maximize Lord North’s ability. The gelding does his best work at 1 1/8 miles, the Dubai Turf distance, and prefers a light schedule. He made just two starts last year, winning the Winter Derby at Lingfield Racecourse as a prep for the Dubai Turf, and did not race after the Dubai Turf until prepping again in the Winter Derby. Danon Beluga, second in this race a year ago, is back for another try, but Do Deuce is Japan’s leading hope – unless this race is too short. Do Deuce hasn’t run less than 1 1/4 miles since December 2021, and his last-out Group 1 win in the Arima Kinen came at 1 9/16 miles. Luxembourg looked like a standout last month in the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia but checked in a flat fourth. If he runs back to his Hong Kong Cup in December, when he was beaten a nose by Romantic Warrior, one of the world’s best 10-furlong horses, he’ll rate a serious chance. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Lord North’s stablemate Nashwa, a 5-year-old mare, makes her Dubai debut but has contending European form from one mile to 1 1/4 miles. Voyage Bubble emerged as a leading Hong Kong performer this past winter and has excellent form running through Romantic Warrior and the great Golden Sixty, and 1 1/8 miles might be an ideal trip. Who knows how good the Charlie Appleby-trained 4-year-old Measured Time might be – much too good for anything that’s run against him in Dubai this winter. And don’t sleep on the American horse Catnip, who suits the distance and exits a wide-trip third in the Pegasus World Cup Turf, where he was edged for second by I’m Very Busy, perhaps North America’s best grass horse right now. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.