Horses based in the U.S. that are being pointed to races in Britain will have to arrive in the country 10 days prior to the race and will be subjected to a new zero-tolerance policy on the use of anabolic steroids under new rules announced by the British Horseracing Authority on Tuesday.

Hunter’s Light is likely to make his third appearance on the Dubai World Cup program next month after winning his second consecutive race in Thursday’s $200,000 Dubai Millennium Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.

Racing at about 1 1/4 miles on turf, Hunter’s Light stalked the pace to early stretch before taking the lead with a three-wide move under jockey James Doyle. Hunter’s Light was clear in the final furlong and won by 1 3/4 lengths over Umgiyo, a group stakes runner in South Africa last year.

Mr Pommeroy finished third of 10.

Hunter’s Light, a Group 1 winner in Dubai and Italy who was seventh in the 2014 Arlington Million at Arlington Park, leads a field of 10 in Thursday’s $200,000 Dubai Millennium Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.

Dirt milers were at the center of the action Thursday night at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, and the 3-year-olds in the Group 3, $250,000 UAE 2000 Guineas might have upstaged their elders in the Group 3, $200,000 Firebreak Stakes.

Maftool edged Mubtaahij in an exciting edition of the race, and the winner’s time of 1:37.69 for 1,600 meters (about one mile) compared favorably with the 1:37.45 that Tamarkuz clocked in winning the Firebreak by four lengths later on the card. The 5-year-old Tamarkuz ran the fastest 1,600 meters so far recorded on the new Meydan dirt track.

There are several rich races with tendrils climbing toward the March 28 Dubai World Cup program on the seven-race card Thursday night at Meydan, but only one of them includes a horse with a chance of making it to North America this spring.

The race is the $250,000 UAE 2000 Guineas, and the horse is Mubtaahij, a 3-year-old Irish-bred colt trained by Mike de Kock who has made a strong enough impression since being switched to dirt this winter that his connections nominated him to the American Triple Crown. 

Frankyfourfingers never had won a race of note when the Dubai World Cup Carnival began in January, and his trainer, Salem bin Ghadayer, never had won a race, period. But Thursday at Meydan, the pair teamed up to capture the Group 2, $250,000 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2, a breakthrough for both horse and trainer.

African Story, making his first start since winning the 2014 Dubai World Cup, never was a factor, finishing seventh.

When African Story last raced, he won the $10 million Dubai World Cup, but when he steps out onto the racetrack Thursday night at Meydan for his first start since March, there will be one very serious difference: The surface beneath African Story’s feet will be dirt.

Not long after African Story swept to victory in the World Cup, up came the Tapeta all-weather track surface installed when Meydan opened its palatial doors in 2010, and in came dirt, the surface over which internationally meaningful racing in Dubai got started at the old Nad al Sheba track.

Vercingetorix, away since April, returned to the races with a two-length win over True Story in the Group 2, $200,000 Al Rashidiya Stakes on Thursday night at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The comeback run suggests that the South African-bred could be a force in the more important middle-distance turf races in February and March.

There are some familiar names — and very good horses - on the Thursday card at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, with Vercingetorix’s appearance in the Group 2, $200,000 Al Rashidiya Stakes highlighting the action.

Bayern, Toast of New York, California Chrome, and Shared Belief - the first four finishers of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 - are among 296 horses from 15 countries nominated for the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.

The $10 million Dubai World Cup is one of eight Thoroughbred stakes worth at least $1 million at Meydan on March 28. There are 24 horses from the United States nominated for the Dubai World Cup, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles on dirt.