Red Falx was in peak form in Japan last year, winning three consecutive starts from June to October, highlighted by a victory in the Grade 1 Sprinters’ Stakes in the fall.

The successful run ended with a 12th-place finish in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin Racecourse in December.

More than three months later, Red Falx will have his 2017 debut in Sunday’s Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at six furlongs on turf at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan. The $1.733 million Takamatsunomiya Kinen drew a full field of 18.

Sharp Azteca has traveled to Dubai from North America to start as the favorite in the Group 2, $1 million Godolphin Mile, and to win, he must find a way to beat a horse named North America.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The first 170-point qualifying race on Churchill Downs’s Road to the Kentucky Derby comes Saturday – in Dubai.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The Dubai Golden Shaheen is not supposed to be a handicap, but it kind of worked out that way. The best horse in the race, Mind Your Biscuits, was saddled with post 14 for the dirt race over 1,200 meters, or about six furlongs.

“It’s not what we would have chosen,” said trainer Chad Summers.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Bob Baffert runs a lot of his horses in blinkers, a holdover from days long ago training Quarter Horses, and so it was no surprise to see a Baffert-trained colt named Arrogate wearing blinkers while finishing third in his career debut last April.

When Arrogate returned to race six weeks later, he had lost his hood, and the colt has not lost since. It turned out that Arrogate wanted to be able to see the world around him. And now, Baffert and Juddmonte Farms, Arrogate’s owner, are letting the world see Arrogate.

Considering the competition Winner’s Way has faced in recent months in Hong Kong, starting as the 131-pound highweight in Sunday’s Lusitano Challenge Cup at Sha Tin racecourse is a relief.

Winner’s Way was fourth in the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Jan. 22, and 10^th in the Hong Kong Classic Cup on Feb. 19. Those races are the first two legs of the Hong Kong Triple Crown and were won by Rapper Dragon, who won the Hong Kong Derby last weekend to sweep the series.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – What a racehorse Zarkava was. During 2007 and 2008, she started seven times and won seven times. She beat Goldikova and the top-class filly Dar Re Mi and ended her unbeaten career by winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, March 26, 2017)

RACE 1: #1 Aeroluminance, #6 High Speed Metro, #7 My Folks, #11 Win Chance

RACE 2: #8 Good Choice Ahead, #2 Argentum, #7 Golden Achiever, #3 Ashkiyr

RACE 3: #8 Sunshine Universe, #12 Both Lucky, #13 Gallant Rock, #2 Jolly Convergence

RACE 4: #5 Sakura Fighter, #6 Bolshoi Ballet, #3 Bond Elegance, #4 Money Money

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Postponed could become the first repeat winner of the $6 million Dubai Sheema Classic on Saturday night at Meydan Racecourse. Could – but not necessarily will.

Postponed is the likely favorite in the 1 1/2-mile grass race, but he will have to improve upon his performance at Meydan three weeks ago, when he finished second in the Dubai City of Gold, a race he was expected to win.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Everyone knows Bob Baffert likes joking around. He likes it so much that he even will kid about returning to Dubai last weekend for the first time since he suffered a heart attack when he was here in 2012 to run Game On Dude in the Dubai World Cup.

“I e-mailed my doctor,” Baffert said. “I told him I’m coming in and to be on red alert, to be there at the paddock ready with the paddles.”