Indicating that he has bounced back quickly from his Feb. 28 victory in Dubai, Curlin worked five furlongs on Monday at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse. Curlin was timed in 1:02.60 for 1,000 meters by clockers at Nad Al Sheba, though getting a precise read on the time was difficult, since Curlin emerged through a bank of fog as he began his drill.

The distance, location, and date of the Japan Cup Dirt will all be changed this year as part of the Japan Racing Association's introduction of the Japan Autumn International, a festival of four international Grade 1 races between Nov. 16 and Dec. 7.

Jockey Darryl Bradley has been suspended for four months in New Zealand for attempting to extort money from an insurance company that was in line to pay a bonus of approximately $80,000 if Fritzy Boy had won the Southland Guineas at Ascot Park Racecourse on Feb. 16, according to published reports.

After setting records across the board in its three-day Part One section, the William Inglis and Son premier yearling sale ended Thursday in Australia with mixed results for Part Two.

Thursday's single session sold 127 yearlings for approximately $2,629,072. The average price and median, in U.S. dollars, were about $20,701 and $18,650, respectively. In Australian dollars, the gross was up 8 percent from last year's aggregate for 86 yearlings. But the average price was down 26 percent and the median dropped by 27 percent.

Asiatic Boy failed in his Dubai World Cup prep at Nad Al Sheba Thursday night, finishing a one-paced third in the Group 3 Burj Nahaar. But Curlin could be faced with strong new local challenger in the upcoming World Cup - Jalil, who racked up his third straight victory in Round 3 of the Maktoum Challenge.

The Burj Nahaar and Maktoum Challenge were among six preps on Thursday for Dubai World Cup Night on March 29.

Asiatic Boy had no apparent excuse as his perfect 5-for-5 record at Nad Al Sheba came to an end in the one-mile $200,000 Burj Nahaar.

Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms has stepped into the breach and will sponsor three big races at Epsom in June, among them the English Oaks. Left without sponsorship when Vodafone ended its 13-year relationship with Epsom's British classic weekend, the Oaks as well as the Group 1 Coronation Cup and the Group 3 Diomed Stakes, will be sponsored by Juddmonte for this year only.

The Epsom Derby had also lost its Vodafone sponsorship, but the telecommunications giant agreed last month to back the race one more time.

Vermilion, Admire Aura, and Viva Pataca all booked passage to Dubai with big-race victories in Japan and Hong Kong over the weekend, serving notice that the Far East is in a strong position to defend the two World Cup Night titles it took last year with Vengeance of Rain and Admire Moon.

Japan's leading hope for the Dubai World Cup, Vermilion, will have his final preparation for the world's richest race at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday in the $1.71 million February Stakes, the first Grade 1 contest of the year on the Japanese calendar.

Vodka will attempt to redeem her increasingly woozy reputation at Kyoto on Saturday in the $1.13 million Kyoto Kinen, a 1 3/8-mile Grade 1 contest that has served as a prep for both the Dubai Duty Free and the Dubai Sheema Classic.

First-time blinkers worked wonders for Archipenko at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday as he denied Linngari a third consecutive victory in the Group 2, $250,000 Al Fahidi Fort.