The Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on Saturday at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai carries a $600,000 purse. A race in the same division and region, the Saudi Cup, was run Feb. 29 for a $20 million purse. You can imagine where all the best older dirt-route horses on the Arabian Peninsula wound up.

The first year of the Saudi Cup has left the final round of the Al Maktoum Challenge as something less than a high-level prep for the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 28, and Quip, at 113, is the top-rated horse in the 2,000-meter race.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, March 8, 2020)

A week after finishing a fast-closing fourth in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile, Avilius will race at a distance that may better suit his needs in Saturday’s Group 1 Australian Cup at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

The $994,500 Australian Cup is the richest of four Group 1 races to be run in a little less than two hours in Australia on Saturday. There are two Group 1 races at Flemington and two at Royal Randwick in Sydney. Post time for the Australian Cup is 12:45 a.m. Eastern or 9:45 p.m. Pacific on Friday.

Andrew Le Jeune:

R1: 3-12-4-1
R2: 8-4-6-2
R3: 7-4-1-5
R4: 9-6-8-11
R5: 6-2-8-1
R6: 3-1-5-8
R7: 7-6-10-1
R8: 2-9-7-6

Best: R3 N7 Smart Of Youth
Each/way: R7 N7 Big Bang Bong
Play: R3 Q/QP R3 1-4-7

Tom Wood:

R1: 4 – 5 – 3 – 11
R2: 8 – 12 – 4 – 3
R3: 7 – 9 – 5 – 1
R4: 3 – 9 – 6 – 7
R5: 6 – 2 – 1 – 5
R6: 3 – 1 – 7 – 8
R7: 3 – 1 – 7 – 8
R8: 2 – 9 – 12 – 10

A quiet Wednesday at Kempton Park in England could help determine a Kentucky Derby starter.

Kempton hosts the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes on Wednesday, the penultimate race in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby. Five were entered, none of whom are among the leaders so far in the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, which concludes with the Cardinal Conditions Stakes on April 2 at Chelmsford City.

The rematch isn’t on – not in Dubai, at least.

Neither Maximum Security, who won the $20 million Saudi Cup, nor Midnight Bisou, who was beaten less than a length by him at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh on Saturday night, are going on to the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 28.

Both horses fly back to America from Saudi Arabia on Friday. They will spend six days in a USDA quarantine facility in Chicago, after which they are free to go off to whatever destination their connections desire.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, March 4, 2020)

This is Class could not have had an easier trip when he won a six-furlong handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong from the front on Feb. 5. Sent off favored, This is Class led by a length shortly after the start and cruised to a two-length victory.

The same scenario is unlikely to occur in Wednesday’s $186,420 Kowloon City Handicap at six furlongs at Happy Valley, but that may not be a concern for fans of This is Class. The 5-year-old gelding could certainly take an early lead, but has shown to be equally as effective when stalking the pace.

R1: 1-3-11-7
R2: 9-3-7-11
R3: 13-12-1-9
R4: 14-1-3-5
R5: 1-7-9-11
R6: 14-1-6-4
R7: 1-2-6-4
R8: 10-2-11-8
R9: 1-2-13-8
R10: 7-11-9-2

Best: R8 N10 Goodluck Goodluck
Each/way: R4 N14 Baby Storm
Play: R4 Q/QP 1-3-14

Tom Wood:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A severe early pace foiled the front-runner, and top American sprinter Imperial Hint failed to fire. That left New York Central and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to post a surprise victory in the $1.5 million Saudia Sprint on Saturday evening at King Abdulaziz Racetrack.

A Grade 3 winner when he campaigned last year in the United States, New York Central collared speedball Matera Sky in deep stretch to win by a head as Imperial Hint and fellow American shipper Captain Scotty were left reeling.