DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – As usual, a hot wind blew over the desert around Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Monday morning. Sand and pollution dirtied the air between the racetrack and Dubai’s burgeoning skyline, but out on the racetrack, 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin was clean, crisp, and smooth as silk in his final workout for Saturday’s $6 million Dubai World Cup.

Doug Watson clinched his second United Arab Emirates trainer's title at Jebel Ali on Friday when Janadel won a seven-furlong handicap in the last UAE meet before Dubai World Cup Night on March 29.

With his 35th win from 367 starters at the 2007-08 UAE season, Watson, a former assistant to Kiaran McLaughlin, has a one-victory lead on Musabah Al Muhairi, who will not have a starter on World Cup Night.

The miler Good Ba Ba defeated the sprinter Sacred Kingdom in the seven-furlong Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday, but needed some luck to get the job done.

Curlin was at it again Monday morning at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai, wowing onlookers with a powerful six-furlong breeze, his big drill for his March 29 start in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.

Curlin, working alone with regular exercise rider Carlos Rosas in the irons, was clocked in 1:13.54 for 1,200 meters, or about six furlongs. Curlin started out slowly, going his first furlong in 13.40 seconds, but finished fast, coming home with a final furlong in 12.19.

A pair of Group 3 races, one in France and one in England, kicked the European turf season up a notch on Saturday. At Saint-Cloud in France, Spirit One won the Prix Exbury in style, while over the channel, Hattan was a good winner in the Winter Derby on the Polytrack at Lingfield Park.

Spirit One was winless in his 3-year-old campaign following a good juvenile season, but now looks backs in good form. Sent off the even-money favorite under Christophe Soumillon, he took up the running soon after entering the straight, and quickened clear.

The Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday will offer Hong Kong racegoers the classic dilemma of choosing between a sprinter stepping up to seven furlongs and a miler cutting back a furlong. The $577,000 Group 1 contest will feature a duel between the world's highest-rated sprinter, Sacred Kingdom, and Hong Kong's champion miler, Good Ba Ba.

The race will also be the first time that a winner of the Hong Kong Sprint (Sacred Kingdom) meets a winner of the Hong Kong Mile (Good Ba Ba).

Denman maintained his perfect steeplechase record on Friday with a scintillating victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, handing defending champion and Paul Nicholls-trained stablemate Kauto Star a seven-length defeat in the 3 5/16-mile, $901,000 contest that invariably crowns Britain's, if not the world's, champion chaser.

European racing emerges form its long winter's rest Saturday with the first group races of the year at Saint-Cloud in France and Lingfield Park in England, although it is still too early for any of the leading older horses to be making their seasonal debuts.

Kauto Star defends his Cheltenham Gold Cup title on Friday against a most dangerous opponent in Denman, the winner of all eight of his steeplechase starts to date. Both are trained by Paul Nicholls for the 15-runner, 3 5/16-mile chase over 22 fences.

Kauto Star has won Grade 1 steeplechases in his last three starts, among them the prestigious King George VI Chase at Kempton on Dec. 26. That win and his latest on Feb. 16 in the Ascot Chase were accomplished by a combined 19 lengths.

Barbecue Eddie will head to Dubai for the March 29 Dubai Golden Shaheen after zipping five furlongs in 59 seconds at Santa Anita on Tuesday morning. The trip is scheduled to happen even though Barbecue Eddie, a Stormy Atlantic 4-year-old, has never won a graded stakes.

"It's a great opportunity," said trainer Brian Koriner. "He went really well and will have one more breeze next week before he leaves for Dubai. It be will something pretty light, and we'll send him on his way."