Honour Devil, unseen since winning the UAE Derby last March, makes his long-awaited return to the races at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night in the Al Dana Investment Plate, a one-mile dirt allowance worth $110,000 in which he will be facing eight seemingly outclassed rivals.

Regarded as the best locally trained hope for the Dubai World Cup, Honour Devil is an Argentine-bred son of Honour and Glory trained by Mike de Kock. He is 4 for 5 lifetime, with three of those victories coming on the Nad Al Sheba dirt, among them last year's UAE 2000 Guineas.

Desert Party moved past Vineyard Haven in Godolphin's Kentucky Derby plans at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night as he thrashed the Champagne Stakes winner in the UAE 2000 Guineas, the first of three Derby preps that will be run in Dubai this winter.

Vineyard Haven starts what Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin hope will be a long but not so winding road to the Kentucky Derby on Thursday night in the Group 3 UAE 2000 Guineas at a mile on the Nad Al Sheba dirt track.

Break Run Out, a Kentucky-bred son of Smart Strike out of Long Island Handicap winner Queue, won the Grade 3, $841,000 Kyodo News Service Hai, an early prep for the Japanese 2000 Guineas, at Tokyo on Sunday, handing Tosen Jordan a 1 3/4-length defeat as the 9-5 favorite in a field of 15.

So Shiny ended Godolphin's string of luck at Nad Al Sheba on Friday night as he led from start to finish in the $250,000 UAE 1000 Guineas as the Saeed bin Suroor-trained pair of SOS Brillante and Devotee finsihed well up the track.

NEW YORK - Europe and America each have their ways of selecting champion racehorses. America uses a quasi-democratic vote of nearly 250 racing journalists and racing officials. Reflecting its less egalitarian past, Europe employs a rather elitist method, determining the best of the annual breed in both Europe and the rest of the world through a handicapping system derived by national handicappers and racing secretaries from each of the world's major racing nations.

My Indy got the job done in Round 2 of the Group 3 Maktoum Challenge at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night. Godolphin's main hope for the Dubai World Cup, My Indy put in a gritty performance to wear down Asiatic Boy through the long stretch and prevail in the $200,000 contest, adding to his recent victory in Round 1 of the Maktoum Challenge.

SOS Brillante puts her 2-for-2 record on the line at Nad Al Sheba on Friday night when she faces nine rivals in the one-mile, $250,000 UAE 1000 Guineas, a listed race that was won last year by her stablemate Cocoa Beach.

Two of Dubai's three leading candidates for the Dubai World Cup will be on view at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night when Asiatic Boy and My Indy clash in Round 2 of the Maktoum Challenge. The Group 3, 1 1/8-mile contest, with a price tag of $200,000, has produced only one World Cup winner in its 15 previous runnings, that being Moon Ballad in 2003, but this year's renewal is considerably stronger than recent runnings taken by the likes of Lucky Find, Kandidate, and Jack Sullivan.

Inspiration could be Dubai-bound after posting a 14-1 upset in the $580,000 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.

The winner of the Hong Kong Sprint in December, Inspiration beat Yellow Diamond to the line by a half-length in the five-furlong Group 1 dash, in which the odds-on Sacred Kingdom could manage only fourth in his first start in nine months.