Three more Group 1's for Dubai

Three races on the Dubai World Cup undercard were upgraded to Group 1's at a meeting of the International Cataloguing Standards Committee in London last week.

The races are the $2 million Dubai Duty Free, $2 million Dubai Sheema Classic, and $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen. The Duty Free and Sheema Classic were run as Group 2's this year and the Golden Shaheen as a Group 3. With the upgrading, there now will be four Group 1's, including the $6 million Dubai World Cup, on the World Cup card at Nad Al Sheba next spring. The committee raised Nad Al Sheba's UAE Derby, Godolphin Mile, and Maktoum Challenge Round III from Group 3's to Group 2's.

In other moves, the committee bestowed Group 1 status upon the Takarazuka Kinen to be run later this year in Japan and to the 2002 Singapore Airlines International Cup.