#Al Maktoum Challenge

A positive mindset leads to positive results and perhaps nobody knows that better than former champion trainer Doug Watson, as he prepares to lead a five-strong team into Saturday's $30.5 million Dubai World Cup meeting. It's been close to three decades since he arrived in Dubai as a hungry young groom hoping to forge a career on the country's…

California Chrome Set to Conquer Dubai World Cup 2016: Former Horse of the Year California Chrome will make his final Middle East appearance on Saturday, when he competes in the $10 million Dubai World Cup (GI) at Meydan Racecourse. The 5-year-old horse looks set to give a top performance in front of a worldwide audience and merits all attention…

The 2023 Dubai World Cup Carnival gets off to a flying start at Meydan on Friday. Two excellent Grade Two races, Al Maktoum Challenge R1 and Al Fahidi Fort feature on Friday's card, along with several lucrative Listed and Conditions races. We've taken a look through the full card and picked out four horses to back on week one of the 2023 Dubai…

Salute the Soldier wins Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on Super Saturday at Meydan, with the next stop the Dubai World Cup. Photo by Erika Rasmussen, courtesy of Dubai Racing Club March 8 (UPI) -- Super Saturday in Dubai, the highlight of weekend horse racing around the world, opened the door to World Cup night for some of the horses who have toiled…

The richest event on the horse racing calendar begins Saturday, when some of the finest thoroughbreds in the world compete in the Saudi Cup. Held at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the inaugural edition of the race carries the significant incentive of a $20 million dollar prize pool-which makes it the most lucrative event in…

Defending race champion Mishriff will once again take on a strong group of American shippers when he tops a field of 14 entered for Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racetrack. Mishriff is well proven on dirt, but has done all his recent running on the turf. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the 5-year-old son of Make Believe has…

Hot Rod Charlie gives the Grade 3, $150000 Salvator Mile on Saturday at Monmouth Park a nice star attraction for racing fans to watch. Unfortunately, his class advantage also makes this race hard to approach as a bettor. Last year, Hot Rod Charlie crossed the wire first in the Haskell Stakes (G1) on this course, before a disqualification knocked…

Dubai World Cup day is Saturday, March 25, and it's an event that racing fans from around the globe look forward to each spring, with $29 million up for grabs across eight races that attract some of the best Thoroughbreds worldwide. Like the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Dubai World Cup races have varied distances, surfaces and purse value.…

Hot Rod Charlie likely got just what trainer Doug O'Neill wanted from his Dubai World Cup (G1) prep in Friday's $350000 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (G2). Aside from getting a race over the Meydan track, the odds-on favorite stands to benefit fitness-wise, for it wasn't a cakewalk. Al Nefud served up a challenge until Hot Rod Charlie's class came…

In the days leading up to the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 27, usracing.com will profile the contenders for the 2000-meter (about 1 ¼ miles) race. The profiles will be updated with odds, post positions and jockeys following the post-position draw scheduled for Wednesday (March 24). By…

Flavien Prat and Hot Rod Charlie after their win in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. This Saturday's Grade 2, $500000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs may not be a qualifying race for the Breeders' Cup Classic five weeks from Saturday, but it certainly has implications because the top three contenders may be running in that race depending on their…

The $500000, Grade 2 Lukas Classic Stakes Saturday at Churchill Downs may not be a qualifying race for the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic five weeks later, but it certainly has implications because the top three contenders could be be running in that race depending on how they perform in this one. Hot Rod Charlie leads the six-horse field in career…

Race 8: 1800 Meters (Dirt), The Saudi Cup (Group 1), Purse $20 Million, 4+ (Saturday) The 3rd Annual Saudi Cup Meet is back for another go from Riyadh, and will once again feature the "richest horse race" on the planet … $20 Million... The Saudi Cup. That signature race brought a capacity field in both 2020 and 2021. The inaugural edition saw…

The winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Pegasus World Cup (G1), Life Is Good has drawn the outside post of a talented field of six older males entered in Saturday's $1000000 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. A disappointing fourth in the Dubai World Cup in March, the son of Into Mischief returned to his winning ways last time, easily…