DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Thirteen horses were entered Monday in the Group 1, $10 million Dubai World Cup, while the other eight stakes races on Saturday’s program were drawn with post positions assigned as final preparations ramped up for the richest race card on the planet.
[DUBAI WORLD CUP: Complete DRF coverage, live video from Meydan]
Lord Kanaloa, Japan’s champion sprinter or miler in 2012, won his fourth consecutive race in Sunday’s Grade 1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chuyko Racecourse in Japan, setting a course record in the race over about six furlongs.
Ridden by Yasunari Iwata, Lord Kanaloa, 5, was timed in 1:08.1, recording his third consecutive Group 1 or Grade 1 win in the $2,195,000 Takamatsunomiya Kinen.
Black Caviar career may be winding down but her ability is showing no signs of abating.
Extending her unbeaten streak to 24 races, Black Caviar, a 7-year-old mare, won the Group 1 William Reid Stakes by four lengths over 50-1 pacesetter Karuta Queen on Friday at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.
“It’s scary how well she’s going,” trainer Peter Moody told the press after the race.
Thirteen horses are expected to be entered next week in the $10 million Dubai World Cup, the March 30 centerpiece of what figures to be an outstanding night of racing in the desert.
Lord Kanaloa, who won Grade 1 and Group 1 races for sprinters in Japan and Hong Kong last fall, can win his fourth consecutive race in Sunday’s Group 1 TakamatsunomiyaKinen at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan.
Trained by Takayuki Yasuda for Lord Horse Club, Lord Kanaloa, 5, won the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse last September and the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin in December. Both races were run over about six furlongs, the same distance as the $2,195,000 TakamatsunomiyaKinen.
[DUBAI WORLD CUP: Complete DRF coverage, live video from Meydan]
Purse: $10,000,000; 1 1/4 miles, Post Time: 2:05 pm ET
Purses at Royal Ascot, England’s most prestigious flat-race meeting, have been increased 11 percent, to a record level of approximately $7,550,000 for the five-day meeting from June 18-22, Ascot officials announced on Wednesday.
The largest increases have been dedicated to Group 1 races for 3-year-olds over a mile. The St James’s Palace Stakes and Coronation Stakes for 3-year-olds fillies will be worth approximately $528,500, an increase from 2012 levels of $377,500.
Black Caviar may go off at career-low odds of 1-25 when she attempts to stretch her unbeaten streak to 24 races in Friday’s Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Australia.
A 7-year-old mare, Black Caviar is part of a field of seven in the $412,000 Reid, which is run over about six furlongs. There is little to suggest that the competition will offer Black Caviar a threat, reflecting her remarkably short odds.
CHELTENHAM, England – Cheltenham Racecourse has become a proving ground for Bobs Worth.
From a victory in a novice hurdle in January 2011, Bobs Worth has risen dramatically through England’s steeplechase rankings. Friday, he won the most prestigious chase in England, the $830,500 Cheltenham Gold Cup over 3 5/16 miles.
