Rich pickings in Dubai

DUBAI // The Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race which was won so effortlessly by the brilliant American thoroughbred Curlin five months ago, will take place on March 28 next year at Nad Al Sheba. The prestigious Group One event is the traditional finale of a busy season of racing in the UAE and is the focal point of a meeting that brings together the world's best horses on dirt and turf.

Curlin won the US$500,000 (Dh1.83m) Woodward Stakes to move a step closer to defending his Horse of the Year title on Saturday, beating the long shot Past the Point by one and a quarter lengths at Saratog. The $300,000 winner's share moved Curlin, owned by Stonestreet Stable, past Skip Away as the second-leading money-winning thoroughbred in history with more than $9.79 million. He is less than $200,000 behind Cigar, who won $9.9 million.

Jess Jackson, Curlin's principal owner, was asked whether the colt would race on next year and return to Dubai to defend the World Cup. He refused to commit himself but hinted at cashing in on his prize possession's stud value. "Curlin has genes that this industry needs - distance and stamina," he said. A total of 46 race days will be held at the three Emirates tracks in the coming season which opens at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday Nov 6 after the official announcement of the fixture list yesterday. Abu Dhabi's series of 15 Sunday meetings begins on Nov 9 and concludes on March 22, the weekend before the World Cup.

Jebel Ali, the third of the nation's courses re-opens for business on Nov 21 and will stage nine more Friday meetings between then and March 20. Next year's showpiece should be the last of 14 runnings of the World Cup at Nad Al Sheba because work is due to be competed on the Dh4.6billion adjacent site of Meydan in time for the 2010 race. The penultimate meeting of the 21 scheduled for Nad Al Sheba in 2008-9 is the popular Dubai International Racing Carnival, an unofficial World Cup rehearsal, which takes place on Thursday March 5.

Whoever wins the World Cup, valued this year at US$6million, will join an illustrious band led by the inaugural winner Cigar in 1996 and completed this year by the latest American wonder horse Curlin, trained by Steve Asmusson and considered by many to be the finest of all time to have raced on dirt. When asked at the time to compare Curlin, who romped home by a record margin of seven-and-a-half lengths, with Cigar, Asmussen said: "I have always thought it too disrespectful to compare a horse with one who could not defend himself on the race course.

"It would be very unfair to any horse in the past or Curlin himself to not have a chance to meet another great horse on the track. I prefer to look at what he has achieved today and what he might go on to achieve. A top venue like this allows us to let him prove to us how great he is on an international stage. Racing at this level enables a horse like Curlin to prove how great he is against the other top horses of his day." The winning jockey Robby Albarado likened sitting on board Curlin to being taken for a ride in a Ferrari and experiencing the wow factor when pressing the accelerator.

"I was just a passenger," said the exultant American immediately after enjoying the highlight of a career which has brought him close to 4,000 winners. "All I had to do was hang on. Curlin drives me around. It was maybe like being in a Ferrari when the driver puts his foot down." Curlin is the highest-rated horse in the world and showed why at Saratoga on Saturday. The four-year-old suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Red Rocks when racing on turf last time but back on dirt, he returned to his best with a length-and-a-quarter success.

Owner Jess Jackson said: "Aside from the Dubai race [World Cup] and the Breeders' Cup, this is the most important race we've won because of the historic nature of this race and its premier contribution to Curlin's legacy. "With all the superstition and the 'Graveyard of Champions', I was glad the horse showed what he is and we won. "The perfect scenario would be to run in the best races, the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Breeders' Cup, and then go overseas to the Japan Cup.

"But that will be hard to press into a four-week schedule. "We'll wait and see. He loves Belmont and now I think he loves Saratoga." Godolphin's Jalil made his American debut on the same card, finishing third in the Waquoit Stakes. William Hill make Curlin their 7-2 joint-favourite along with Big Brown for the Breeders' Cup Classic. If the pair were to meet at Santa Anita on October 25 it would be a fascinating showdown between last year's Classic winner Curlin and the Kentucky Derby and Preakness hero Big Brown.

Hills' spokesman Tony Kenny said: "It's like we're watching a modern-day version of the film Seabiscuit. Both camps say they have the best horse in the World, but neither has proved their superiority over the other on the race track. "The only chance of the Big Brown and Curlin meeting each other looks like being in the Breeders' Cup Classic, and should they meet, they would probably help smash the record for the most ever bet on one race in the US."