NEW YORK - While most of the domestic racing industry was schmoozing with Hollywood celebrities in Beverly Hills this week at the Eclipse Awards, the rest of the Thoroughbred world was in Dubai addressing issues that will affect the game in every corner of the globe for decades to come.

The Asian Racing Conference may have the ring of a faraway business meeting for administrators of the sport in places like Macao, Singapore, and India, but it emerged this year, in its 31st incarnation, as the world's single most important gathering of racing's movers and shakers.

Tropical Star came with a late rush under Royston Ffrench to nab Thajja on the line for a short head victory in the Group 3, $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday night.

Godolphin's racing manager defused speculation about Discreet Cat's plans for Dubai World Cup night on Thursday by stating emphatically that the undefeated son of Forestry has the Dubai World Cup as his major early-season goal.

"We've got plenty of options," Crisford said, referring to Discreet Cat's nominations to the Godolphin Mile and the Dubai Golden Shaheen as well as the World Cup. "But the plan at this time is to prepare him for the Dubai World Cup."

Commingling of wagering pools and artificial racing surfaces took center stage at the 31st Asian Racing Conference in Dubai on Wednesday as speakers from around the world continued to stress the importance of international cooperation as a key element to racing's future development.

Para-Choque will attempt to pick up where Imperialista left off and become the second Brazilian-based horse in a week to gain a Group 3 victory at Nad Al Sheba. The effort will come Thursday night in the six-furlong $200,000 Al Shindagha Sprint, the first local prep for the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

Tuesday's session of the 31st Asian Racing Conference in Dubai brought warnings of a dire future for racing in North America from David Willmot, the chief executive of Woodbine Entertainment Group in Ontario.

Racing in the United States and Canada may face a "very, very dark future," Willmot said, unless racetracks joined in forming an organization that could take control of simulcasting, the form of wagering that is responsible for the largest percentage of racing's income.

Under the banner "Racing Without Borders," speakers at the 31st Asian Racing Conference in Dubai called on Monday for uniform quarantine and medication rules at the international level.

"We are at a crossroads in many ways," said Mark Player, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's manager of international races. "We have to break down quarantine barriers."

Deep Impact landed his second consecutive title as Japanese Horse of the Year on Monday with his near-unanimous selection by the Japan Racing Association. A son of Sunday Silence, he was also named Japan's best older horse of 2006, adding to his 2005 title as best 3-year-old.

Owner/trainer Joe Janiak has been fined $25,600 by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the drug positive that forced the scratching of Takeover Target from the Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 10.

Takeover Target tested positive for a prohibited substance, a steroid called 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate, on both his arrival in Hong Kong and on the morning of the race. Honk Kong stewards weighed Janiak's record of 34 years without a drug positive in assessing a relatively lenient fine that could have been accompanied by a long suspension.

Opening night of Nad Al Sheba's Dubai International Racing Carnival had a strong "carnaval" flavor, as the Brazilian-bred and -trained pair of Imperialista and Impossible Ski sambaed to a one-two finish in Round 1 of the $200,000 Maktoum Challenge.

Imperialista, a Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old trained by Cosme Morgado, defeated his countrymate by 2 1/4 lengths in just the sixth start of his career. Second in his most recent start on Oct. 22 in the Group 2 Grande Premio Salgado Filho in Rio de Janeiro, he was ridden by Marcelo Cardoso to complete the dirt mile in 1:35.96.