Before Curlin, the Horse of the Year in 2007, made his preparatory run in Dubai on Thursday, the Smart Strike colt was the 11-8 favourite for the World Cup to be run on the last Saturday in March.

As the dust settled after the Thursday card at Nad Al Sheba, Curlin’s odds were trimmed to 4/5. Coral reacted strongly to Curlin’s convincing score in the 2000-metre Jaguar Trophy. Curlin’s price was slashed to half money. Asiatic Boy continues to be the second choice at 6-1.

It was a two and one quarter-length win for Curlin who beat five adversaries. The time was 2 minutes 0.6 seconds. Curlin was the 10-3 on favourite.

Jockey Robbie Albarado had Curlin in the catbird seat tracking the leader. With 400 metres to go, Curlin edged ahead and cruised home. Though hard held for the most part, Curlin’s time was only a second off Dubai Millenium’s track record.

Robbie Albarado heaped praise. “He is an amazing athlete and a racehorse. It is a real honour to be associated with him and he has shown why tonight. I had to take him wide to help him settle as he was a bit keen. Then on, I had no concern at all.”

The Racing Post made this comment, “It will be a mighty surprise if he were to be beaten in the World Cup.”

Ted Durcan rode the favoured Cocoa Beach to an easy win in the UAE Oaks. Cocoa Beach is trained by Saeed Bin Suroor. Cocoa Beach has now won six times from seven outings.

Ted Durcan said, “She’s a lovely filly. The step-up in trip, I knew, will suit us.”

Frankie Dettori, on his way to India to ride Hotstepper in the Invitation Cup at Hyderabad, had a pair of winners. He lost in a photo in another event.

There is news about the Breeders’ Cup. The 2008 renewal will be at Santa Anita on October 24-25. On Friday, five races, all of them for fillies and mares, will be held. The other nine races, including the BC Classic, will be contested on Saturday.

Fourteen horses will go postward in the million-dollar Santa Handicap on Saturday. It is the largest field for this race and fourteen is the limit. It is over 2,000 metres. Awesome Gem is marginally fancied.

At Al Rayyan Park, a racecourse near Doha in Qatar, Casemate, Britain-based once and now trained by Zohair Moghsen in Qatar, won the 166.670-pound International Cup over 2,400 metres. The winning rider was Gerald Avranche, a Frenchman.

Kieren Fallon is pulling out all the stops to limit the damage caused by the 18-month suspension from France-Galop. Fallon went before the appeal panel on Tuesday in Paris. Henri Pouret, head of the stewards’ office confirmed Fallon’s appearance. “Mr Fallon stated his case to the judges. They will now deliberate up to seven days.”

Fallon’s suspension for drugs violation extends until August 7, 2009. The appeal body may confirm the sentence. It may increase the period. It could curtail the length.

Sources : Racing Post and others