Vale of York makes his seasonal debut in the 1 3/16-mile Al Bastikiya on Thursday night on a glittering Dubai World Cup preview card at Meydan, which includes a number of the more prominent international names in the Thoroughbred hierarchy.

Collection jumped to the top of his class at Sha Tin on Sunday with a comprehensive 1 3/4-length victory in the $1 million Hong Kong Gold Cup, a 1 1/4-mile Group 1 race in Hong Kong.

Gitano Hernando's Lingfield Park prep for the Dubai World Cup went off without a hitch on Saturday as he cruised to a comfortable 4 1/2-length victory in the $61,000 listed Winter Derby Trial.

Good Ba Ba and Viva Pataca, the winners of 10 Group 1 races between them, clash in the $1 million Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday, but both are vulnerable to rising star Collection in the 1 1/4-mile Hong Kong Group 1 contest.

Gitano Hernando faces seven rivals on the Lingfield Park Polytrack on Saturday when he preps for the Dubai World Cup in the Winter Derby Trial, a $61,000 race at the World Cup distance of 1 1/4 miles. This will be the first outing for Gitano Hernando, a 4-year-old son of Hernando, since he sprung an 18-1 surprise in the Goodwood Stakes on the Santa Anita Pro-Ride on Oct. 10.

Midshipman returned to winning ways at Meydan on Thursday night with a bloodless 3 1/4-length victory over his Godolphin stablemate Asset in a $110,000 seven-furlong conditions race. Midshipman was fourth in Round 1 of the Maktoum Challenge going a mile on Jan. 28, and this step down in class and distance was just what the doctor ordered. Midshipman was fourth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and winless since taking a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer at Belmont Park on Sept. 18.

The 4-year-old Gitano Hernando could face as many as 13 opponents and will be conceding weight when he preps for his Dubai World Cup date in the Winter Derby Trial on the Lingfield Park Polytrack on Saturday.

The conditions of the 1 1/4-mile listed race state that 4-year-olds carry 125 pounds while older horses tote 126. Winners of a Group 1 or Grade 1 since May 31 carry a seven-pound penalty, so Gitano Hernando will heft 132 pounds, thanks to his victory in last year's Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita.

The Group 3 Balanchine Stakes and the listed UAE Oaks are the features on Meydan's eight-race, $1.26 million card Thursday night, but both have come up weak, so American attention should be focused on the reappearance of Midshipman in a competitive seven-furlong allowance.

Espoir City and Buena Vista punched their tickets to Dubai with winning performances in Japan this weekend. Espoir City routed a very good field in taking the $2 million, Grade 1 February Stakes at Tokyo on Sunday, earning a trip to Meydan for the Dubai World Cup. On Saturday, the 4-year-old filly Buena Vista broke a three-race losing streak, beating males in the Grade 2, $1.35 million Kyoto Kinen to secure a place in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Sacred Kingdom remains the world's premier sprinter after his unsurprising 1 1/4-length victory in the Group 1, $580,000 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday. Although stuck on the rail in sixth place into the stretch, the 6-year-old Australian-bred son of Encosta de Lago quickened under Brent Prebble to lead just inside the eighth pole and won rather decisively.