America’s Senor Buscador and Japan’s Ushba Tesoro clash again in this weekend’s (30 March) G1 Dubai World Cup (2000m, dirt), five weeks after a whirlwind finish by each horse had resulted in a sensational finale to the US$20 million (approx. HK$156.46 million) G1 Saudi Cup (1800m, dirt), the world’s richest race.
The venue shifts from King Abdulaziz to Meydan, with the distance of this pair of Group 1 dirt spectaculars rising from 1800m in Saudi Arabia to 2000m in Dubai.
Senor Buscador grabbed the win in Saudi bang on the wire, but the Todd Fincher-trained Junior Alvarado-ridden six-year-old is encountering Meydan for the first time as is his rider.
The Venezuelan-born Alvarado says: “I haven’t had the opportunity to ride in Dubai so I don’t know how different the surface is compared to Saudi but, from watching race replays, I think Senor Buscador will handle the Meydan dirt completely fine. The track will favour us because of the nice long straight as he’s a big horse who keeps coming and coming. I’m not scared of any particular rival just if there is a lack of pace.”
Ushba Tesoro is defending his 2023 Dubai World Cup title, having surged from last place, accelerating past all 14 rivals and ultimately winning easily.
After the Noboru Takagi-trained Ushba Tesoro – to be ridden as usual by Yuga Kawada – had breezed over 1000m at Meydan on Tuesday (26 March) morning, stable representative Masakazu Fukami said: “He moved and reacted well. There are no lingering effects from the Saudi Cup. He will run a good race.”
Fellow Japanese challenger Derma Sotogake was also eye-catching in the closing stages of the Saudi Cup and also boasts an unbeaten record at Meydan having bossed for most of the trip when gaining a runaway five and a half lengths verdict in the G2 UAE Derby (1900m, dirt) at this meeting last year.
Derma Sotogake, who will be ridden again by Christophe Lemaire, stretched out over 800m on Tuesday (26 March) with stable representative Masatoshi Segawa observing of the four-year-old colt: “The environment and track conditions at Meydan seem to suit him very well and he appears to be enjoying and engaging in morning trackwork.”
Kabirkhan (Pat Dobbs) would be a crowd-pleasing winner, being trained by Doug Watson, a six-times Dubai champion. Moreover, victory for this colt who has walloped his rivals in both Meydan starts this year – latterly in January’s G1 Al Maktoum Challenge (1900m, dirt) – would create an unusual story having launched his career in Kazakhstan and Russia, winning eight of his nine starts.
A much more familiar script would see US trainer Bob Baffert win with Newgate. Baffert and Newgate’s rider Frankie Dettori have both won the Dubai World Cup four times, latterly together with Country Grammer in 2022.
Newgate’s courageous victory – under Dettori – in the prestigious and historic G1 Santa Anita Handicap (2000m, dirt) early this month suggests that this progressive colt should be taken seriously on this Meydan adventure.
