DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - It has been eight years since trainer Bob Baffert won his second World Cup with Captain Steve, and 11 years since Baffert won the 1998 edition of the race with Silver Charm. Five years have passed since Baffert has sent a horse to Dubai, and even devoted racing fans will be hard pressed to pluck the name of his most recent starter from memory: During, who checked in sixth in the 2004 Godolphin Mile.

Mad About You embarks on what her trainer, Dermot Weld, hopes will be a lucrative 4-year-old campaign at the Curragh on Sunday when she takes on seven rivals in the Group 3, $123,000 Park Express Stakes on the first day of the Irish flat racing season.

Wearing blinkers for the first time in his brief career, Mafaaz barely outlasted Spring of Fame in a desperate finish to the $115,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge at Kempton Park on Wednesday night to earn himself a place in the Run for the Roses, but he could go first in the Blue Grass Stakes on a Polytrack surface similar to that at Kempton.

Ken McPeek hasn't let Dream Empress's poor performance in the Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park last Sunday put a damper on his dreams of sending her to Epsom for the English Oaks.

Dream Empress, winner of the Alcibiades Stakes, was among 77 horses nominated Thursday to the 1 1/2-mile Oaks on June 5. McPeek also nominated his recent Gulfstream allowance winner Striking Dancer.

Eagle Mountain, who would probably have started as the favorite for the Dubai Sheema Classic on March 28, was withdrawn from the race on Monday after having suffered a suspensory ligament injury. Trainer Mike de Kock was grateful that the problem was discovered early and is planning on a summer campaign for Eagle Mountain, winner of the Hong Kong Cup and runner-up in last fall's Breeders' Cup Turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Mark Hennig was not sure what he was going to do next with Red Rocks - until he got an offer he could not refuse to send his Grade 1 winner to Dubai for the $5 million Sheema Classic on March 28.

Red Rocks was one of five south Florida-based horses who boarded a flight late Tuesday afternoon for Dubai to compete on the rich World Cup card. He was joined on the trip by the Rick Dutrow-trained pair of Kip Deville and Arson Squad, plus Albertus Maximus and Anak Nakal.

A guaranteed place in the Kentucky Derby lineup awaits the winner of Wednesday night's Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, a $115,000 allowance race that will be run on a right-handed Polytrack surface at a distance of 1 1/8 miles at Kempton Park near London.

Court Canibal scored an 18-1 upset in the Group 3 Prix Exbury on Saturday at Saint-Cloud, claiming a three-quarter-length victory over the 11-1 mare Diyakalanie in the 1 1/4-mile, $103,000 contest, the first group race of the year in Europe.

It's difficult what to make of the the first running of the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes at Kempton Park on Wednesday.

Contested at 1 1/8 miles on a Polytrack surface in England, it's actually an allowance, one that will be run under the lights and on a right-handed track. The winner gets an automatic place in the Kentucky Derby lineup, which means a more deserving American horse might get bumped.

Kauto Star reclaimed his Cheltenham Gold Cup title from a stablemate and last year's winner, Denman, on Friday with a devastating 13-length victory in the world's premier steeplechase race.

Traveling easily throughout the 3 5/16-mile, $653,000 contest, Kauto Star, the 2007 Gold Cup winner, became the first horse to regain a Gold Cup title after having lost it as he avenged his seven-length runner-up finish of a year ago.