COLUMN 44 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 840 Thursday 4th April 2024 adiyat racing plus.com adiyat racing plus.com The future of horseracing in some parts of the world has never seemed to be so uncertain which made the 2024 Dubai World Cup all the more refreshing. Racing is no more in Macau and Singapore where Kranji racecourse is earmarked for redevelopment. Golden Gate Fields racetrack is in the final furlong before it closes while iconic fellow California track Santa Anita has been put on the endangered list with some believing the course which has hosted more Breeders’ Cups than any other US venue will be a parking lot or shopping mall within 10 years. It is depressing stuff but Saturday at Meydan showed there is still a strong appetite for racing horses all around the world and that if the best from the far flung continents are brought together to test themselves crowds will flock to see them. Fourteen different countries were represented at the 28th Dubai World Cup and seven made it to the winner’s enclosure – eight if you count the race for Arabian-bred horses. From the skyscape jungle of Hong Kong with Tony Cruztrained California Spangle in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint to the verdant fields of County Tipperary where Aidan O’Brien’s Dubai Gold Cup winner Tower of London was raised via the Japan home of UAE Derby winner Forever Young and the California-base of Doug O’Neill, trainer of Godolphin Mile winner Two Rivers Over, this was a celebration of what racing can be and hopefully will be more of in the future. Britain got in on the act with Sheema Classic winner Rebel’s Romance, trained by Charlie Appleby, while the UAE enjoyed a great evening courtesy of the demolition job successes of Tuz in the Golden Shaheen and Laurel River in the World Cup for Bhupat Seemar and Tadhg O’Shea. The dynamics may change and the powers shift but racing is essentially simple – a horse and jockey getting from start to finish as efficiently as possible and faster than their opponents. It is the international language of racing and still plenty of people recognise it, especially when it is spoken well. Saturday night, including the spectacular post-race entertainment, again showed no-one puts on a better racing show than Dubai. That raises the bar for the participants. The overall competitiveness has never been stronger. — DUBAI WORLD CUP NIGHT HELPED HIGHLIGHT RACING’S TRUE DEPTH BY MARCUS TOWNEND California Spangle
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