DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Steve Asmussen is a doer. When you have gotten up before the sun to take care of and ride horses since you were a child, when you oversee one of the largest racing operations in the world, one spread all over North America, you are a man of action.

Steve Asmussen also is a thinker. And do not believe for a nanosecond that every move he makes with Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, is not the product of incessant mental activity.

"He's kind of a horse that consumes your thoughts," Asmussen said, reached by phone this week.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - On the average day at most racetracks in the United States, racing secretaries and their underlings scurry frenetically about, trying to attract a sufficient number of horses onto a particular race card. Too many races, too few horses, goes the slogan of the era.

Let it be said that field size will not be a concern this weekend at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai.

The British auction house Bonhams will offer racing memorabilia related to such iconic figures as Fred Archer and Dorothy Paget as part of its third annual Racing Sale at Newmarket, England, on July 19, the company announced.

The Newmarket, England-based International Racing Bureau, for decades a key coordinator in the recruitment and shipping of horses to the world's major international race meetings, has been sold to Newmarket Investments, a publicly quoted company that made the purchase for 850,000 pounds, approximately $1.7 million.

In relinquishing their shares, chief International Racing Bureau executives Mark O'Connor and Nick Clarke have parted company with the company. Alastair Donald remains as its managing director.

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).