Calvin Borel won the Meydan Masters International jockey competition at Meydan Racecourse on Friday, a night when trainer Mike de Kock scored a one-two knockout in the Group 2, $200,000 Balanchine Stakes with River Jetez and Reem.

Transcend will prepare for his March 26 date in the Godolphin Mile at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday when he takes on Furioso in the $2.2 million February Stakes, a Grade 1 one-mile dirt race that his been won in recent years by Japanese dirt champions Espoir City and Kane Hekili.

Derbaas held off the late challenge of Raihana to win the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort on Thursday night at Meydan, where Calvin Borel leads the Meydan Masters jockey challenge after the first two legs of the four-race series.

The in-form Aspectoflove meets the off-the-layoff Strawberrydaiquiri in an intriguing running of the Group 2, $200,000 Balanchine Stakes at Meydan on Friday night when Calvin Borel will ride in legs 3 and 4 of the Meydan Masters jockey competition.

The Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort, the second of three local stepping-stones to the $5 million Dubai Duty Free at Meydan, is a wide open affair Thursday night, lacking a standout, in which a pair of fillies could steal the show. Sharing the bill with the one-mile turf event are the first two legs of the two-night Meydan Masters jockey competition, in which Calvin Borel will represent the United States.

To the Glory signaled that he will be a force to be reckoned with in Japan this year when he beat a top-class field in the Grade 2, $1.4 million Kyoto Kinen at Kyoto Racecourse on Sunday. The 4-year-old son of King Kamehameha defeated the mare Meisho Beluga by three-quarters of a length in the 1 3/8-mile contest, covering the distance in 2:13.90 on firm ground as the 7-5 favorite.

The Grade 2, $1.4 million, Kyoto Kinen, to be run at Kyoto Racecourse on Sunday at 1 3/8 miles on turf, has become a keen pointer to Japanese hopes in Dubai in recent years. In 2007 Admire Moon won it before taking the Dubai Duty Free. Last year Buena Vista won it beforeher second-place finish in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Zanzamar was an unlucky runner-up in the Group 3, $250,000 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan on Thursday night as Splash Point took advantage of his rival’s trouble in escaping with a one-length victory.

Calvin Borel has been selected to represent the United States in the Meydan Masters jockey competition at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on Feb. 17-18.

The winning rider of three of the last four Kentucky Derbies – aboard Super Saver, Mine That Bird and Street Sense – the 45-year-old Borel will be riding in the United Arab Emirates for the first time in his career.

Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds, technically 4 years old on the Northern Hemisphere calendar, hold the key to the Group 3, $250,000 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan on Thursday night.

The South African-bred Zanzamar, trained by Mike de Kock, looked sharp winning the seven-furlong UAE 2000 Guineas Trial on Jan. 20. By 1 1/4-mile Grand Prix de Paris winner Fort Wood, he should have no trouble staying the Guineas’ extra furlong.