Dubai World Cup Night 2025: Preview, Picks & Betting Tips

The richest night in thoroughbred racing returns to Meydan Racecourse this Saturday, March 29, with nine Group races on the card and a staggering combined purse pushing well past $20 million. Dubai World Cup night is where global superstars converge — Japanese powerhouses, European turf royalty, sprint specialists, and dirt monsters — all chasing glory under the lights. Here’s your race-by-race guide with previews, form analysis, and the bets you need to know.

$12,000,000 Group 1 Dubai World Cup

The biggest dirt race in the world. And one horse stands above them all.

Thirty years in, the Dubai World Cup remains the ultimate statement race in international dirt racing. Two thousand meters under the Meydan lights, $12 million on the line, and this year a genuine shot at history. When Forever Young crosses the wire first — and it’s hard to argue against it — he will become the highest-earning racehorse of all time, eclipsing the great Romantic Warrior. That is the scale of what we’re watching.

Forever Young has been here before. He finished third in the 2024 Dubai World Cup behind Hit Show, and if that result stung, his connections have responded in the most emphatic way possible. The five-year-old son of Real Steel went on to win the Saudi Cup — twice — and delivered a breathtaking performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. He is the reigning champion of dirt racing worldwide and he arrives at Meydan in the form of his life.

Trainer Yoshito Yahagi and jockey Ryusei Sakai flew in directly from Hanshin Racecourse in Osaka, having been trackside just hours earlier. That tells you the level of commitment and seriousness surrounding this mission. Stable representative Yuki Araki put Forever Young through a calm lap and a half on the Meydan dirt Monday morning alongside stablemate American Stage, reporting everything in order: “All is well so far.” There are no alarms. The machine is running smoothly.

So who can beat him? The short answer is: the same horses who did it before.

Hit Show is the defending champion and, crucially, the horse who beat Forever Young at this venue 12 months ago. That form line alone demands respect. He returns here having shown he is capable of handling this track, this distance, and the pressure of the biggest night. Connections wouldn’t be back if they didn’t believe he could do it again. Whether he has the class to repel a Forever Young who has since scaled new heights is the central question of the race.

Trainer Bhupat Seemar saddles both Walk of Stars and Imperial Emperor, both Group 1 winners on the Meydan dirt, both returning from last year’s World Cup. Seemar has been candid in his assessment of his pair. Walk of Stars, he says, has improved with every run this year. Imperial Emperor is a different proposition to 12 months ago: “I think he was a little bit of a tired horse last year. We freshened him up and he’s doing great.” A refreshed Imperial Emperor at his best is no pushover at this venue.

Seemar’s respect for the favourite, though, was total: “Forever Young is the best horse in the world. You can’t take anything away from him. He’s danced every dance and it’s great to have a chance to go up against him again.” When the trainer of his most credible local rivals says that, it tells you where the weight of opinion sits.

The pace scenario matters on this track. Meydan dirt at 2000m rewards horses who travel well and have a turn of foot in the final furlong. Forever Young has demonstrated he can do both. With Sakai back in the saddle — a jockey who knows this horse inside out — the tactical picture looks straightforward.

🏇  BET: Forever Young is the win bet of the night, full stop. Back him to win. For those looking for value in the exotics, an exacta keying Forever Young over Hit Show and Imperial Emperor covers the most credible threats. A trifecta box of Forever Young, Hit Show, Imperial Emperor, and Walk of Stars gives you solid coverage in the pari-mutuel pools at a workable cost.

$6,000,000 Group 1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic

History on two fronts — and two horses capable of making it.

If Forever Young’s story is about one horse rewriting the record books, the Sheema Classic is about a trainer attempting something nobody has ever done. Willie Mullins won eight races at Cheltenham this week — including the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the two most prestigious prizes in jump racing — and now, within days, he’s attempting to win a $6 million Group 1 on the Meydan turf. The Cheltenham-Dubai double has never been achieved. Mullins is the man to try it.

His weapon is Ethical Diamond, a six-year-old gelding who has quietly assembled one of the best international flat race records of the past 12 months. He won the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar in November — a first Breeders’ Cup win for Mullins in any discipline — and earlier in 2024 took the Ebor Handicap at York and the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot. He is a genuine globe-trotter who has won on fast ground and soft, at a mile and at a mile and a half, in Britain and the United States.

The stat that will concern some bettors: no horse has won the Dubai Sheema Classic off the back of a Breeders’ Cup Turf win five months prior. Horses who have achieved both the Sheema and the Turf — Fantastic Light, St Nicholas Abbey, Rebel’s Romance — all won the Sheema before their Breeders’ Cup glory, not after. Mullins’ team are aware of the historical oddity but are supremely unconcerned. Travelling foreman T.J. Comerford was glowing after the horse’s arrival in Dubai: “He’s eaten up every night and he’s thriving since he got here. He’s in great form, very easy to do anything with, well-mannered. We are really happy with him.”

Comerford was also at Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup: “I didn’t know what to expect but it’s Willie Mullins — you can never put anything past him.” That same logic applies here.

The other side of the coin is Calandagan, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard in France and officially ranked the 2025 Longines World’s Best Racehorse. The five-year-old won the Japan Cup last November and arrives here for a second attempt at the Sheema Classic, having failed to win this race 12 months ago. And there’s another uncomfortable stat for his backers: no Japan Cup winner has gone on to take the Dubai Sheema Classic either. The globetrotting form book has a habit of throwing up these anomalies, but Calandagan’s connections believe he is better placed this time around.

Rider Jeremy Lobel, who has been with Calandagan throughout his international campaign, was measured but positive after the horse’s Monday morning session: “He was very calm this morning. He’s become a lot more mature with age. His first few days here 12 months ago he was a bit nervous and on his toes, but with all the travelling he’s done since then, he’s much better now.” Lobel confirmed the plan was to keep him ticking over ahead of a final piece of work done in Chantilly before the trip out. The prep is done; this is race week.

Meydan’s turf course at 2410m rewards high-class horses who stay well and travel smoothly. Both Ethical Diamond and Calandagan fit that profile. This is as close to a two-horse race at the top as you’ll find on the card. The key differentiator may be which horse handles the specific conditions on the night.

🏇  BET: This is the hardest race on the card to call at the top. Calandagan carries the higher official rating and has more experience at the trip and at Meydan. Ethical Diamond brings the form edge, a supremely confident team around him, and a trainer who has made a habit of defying historical precedent. The play is to back both win/place — splitting your bankroll between the two. If you want a single selection, Ethical Diamond’s Breeders’ Cup form and the confidence of Mullins’ team gives him the edge in a photo.

$5,000,000 Group 1 Dubai Turf (Sponsored by DP World)

A course specialist returns, and a European challenger is ready to strike.

The Dubai Turf over 1800m on the Meydan turf straight is a race that rewards horses who know the venue, handle fast ground, and can produce a sustained finish in the straight. It produced one of the most memorable finishes of last year’s World Cup night, and this edition shapes up as another high-class renewal with a genuine European challenge to the returning course specialist.

Facteur Cheval is the horse who knows this race better than anyone else in the field. The seven-year-old French-trained gelding won the Dubai Turf by a short head two years ago, one of the tightest finishes in the race’s recent history, and returns for a third tilt at the 1800m feature. He has not won since that Meydan victory but his consistency at the highest level has been remarkable: four Group 1 placings across Great Britain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, including a third to Walk of Stars on the Meydan dirt in last year’s Al Maktoum Challenge — which demonstrates he handles the venue on either surface.

What makes Facteur Cheval’s credentials here particularly compelling is the prep. He and stablemate Lazzat — running in Saturday’s Al Quoz Sprint — have been based in Dubai for more than a month. The pair have had a long, unhurried acclimatisation period, the kind of preparation that suits horses with a track record at the venue. Assistant trainer Nuri Ozdogan confirmed Monday was their final serious piece of work: “Both horses seem very happy, very well balanced, they were breathing well and everything was great. They both love Dubai and are really enjoying being here.” That’s the language of a camp who know exactly what they’re doing.

The main European challenge comes from Ed Walker’s Fort George, who made a powerful impression on Super Saturday in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold over the longer 2400m trip. He pressed Rebel’s Romance all the way to the line and ran green in the straight — which, given he was dropping into unfamiliar tactical territory, was entirely understandable. Dropping back to 1800m for the Turf could be the move that unlocks his best form. Stable representative Elouise O’Hart made a strong case: “Fort George stayed the mile and a half really well last time and in all of his races he’s always the one that takes the longest to be pulled up after the line. He’s got so much heart and he’s very versatile in terms of trip. He stays, he relaxes and he’s got a good turn of foot.”

That last point matters. A horse who relaxes, stays, and has a turn of foot is precisely the profile that wins the Dubai Turf. Fort George’s Super Saturday run at the longer trip was arguably a better performance in context than the bare result suggests, and O’Hart’s confidence heading into Saturday was unambiguous.

Stablemate Northern Champion has been entered but is expected to take his chance in the shorter Al Quoz Sprint, where his carnival form at 1200m makes more sense. His presence here would complicate the pace picture, but on current thinking Fort George is the stable’s representative in the Turf.

The race shape is relatively straightforward. Facteur Cheval has course form, a long prep, and a happy camp behind him. Fort George brings improving form at the venue, a trainer who clearly believes in him, and the scope to rate well off what could be a well-run pace. There is enough between them to make the race genuinely interesting.

🏇  BET: Facteur Cheval to win — course form, experience at the trip, and a settled preparation are a powerful combination. Fort George is the value play for a place ticket or an exacta pairing: he’s proven he stays, he handles Meydan, and a drop back in trip frees up his finishing kick. For the exactas, key Facteur Cheval on top with Fort George underneath, and use both in the trifecta alongside the broader field.

$2,000,000 Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen

Can the “Russian Frankel” reclaim his crown?

Tuz is the people’s favorite in this race. The nine-year-old won the Golden Shaheen by six and a half lengths in 2024 following an unplaced prep run — and trainer Bhupat Seemar is running the same playbook, sending him out unplaced in the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal as a prep. “He’s probably in the form of his life,” Seemar said. “He wasn’t that fit last time, but he’s where we want him to be now.” Tuz was beaten into third last year, so the back-to-back title still eludes him. Seemar also runs Drew’s Gold, an American-bred Grade 1-placed sprinter unbeaten in two starts under his care, and Chilean-bred Mufasa, whose connections received a ringing endorsement from Ryan Moore after his last run.

🏇  BET: Tuz’s prep run form is deliberately misleading per trainer comments — the win/place bet on Tuz looks the play. Drew’s Gold is a serious danger and worth a place ticket given his unbeaten record for Seemar.

$1,500,000 Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint

Six furlongs of electric sprint action on the Meydan turf.

French fillies Rayevka and Monteille have been training companions throughout the Dubai Carnival, working in tandem on the turf straight Monday. Monteille’s head groom Anthony Lecordier was bullish: “She knows the Meydan straight now, she has really enjoyed being in Dubai and her coat looks magnificent. She’s really strengthened up since her comeback run.” Any rain-softened ground would be an additional positive. Ed Walker’s Northern Champion is the local wildcard — described as “a very unexposed sprinter” with “a great turn of foot.” Run Boy Run, second in the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint on Super Saturday, completed his final prep in good shape.

🏇  BET: Northern Champion is the standout longshot play for a place ticket. He’s shown pace at sprint distances throughout the carnival and has unexplored ceiling at 1200m.

$1,000,000 Group 2 UAE Derby (Sponsored by Jumeirah)

The Road to the Kentucky Derby gets real.

The UAE Derby is a Kentucky Derby prep, and this year’s edition features the winner of the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby series — Brotherly Love, trained by Jamie Osborne. He’s a half-brother to Heart of Honor, who went agonizingly close in this race 12 months ago, losing by a nose. Both will be ridden by Saffie Osborne, who has an opportunity to become the first female jockey to win at the Dubai World Cup meeting. Japan has won the UAE Derby four years running and sends Pyromancer and Wonder Dean again this year. Wonder Dean finished fourth in the Saudi Derby last start and is reported moving well.

🏇  BET: Brotherly Love has the prep form advantage and the sentimental draw. Back him to win, with a place ticket on Pyromancer given Japan’s recent record.

$1,000,000 Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup (Sponsored by Al Tayer Motors)

Staying power on the dirt — a rematch fans will want to see.

Al Nayyir put in a polished display to beat Sunway in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy last month and arrives in excellent condition. Stable rep Molly Keegan-Price left little doubt: “He feels super.” The Tom Clover-trained stayer has galloped on consecutive Saturdays and has been kept relaxed on the Tapeta training track. Burdett Road, third in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold, completed similar work in tandem Monday morning.

🏇  BET: Al Nayyir is the logical win bet. He beat these rivals already and connections are confident. Back him to win.

$1,000,000 Group 2 Godolphin Mile (Sponsored by EMAAR)

One trainer, six runners — and a loaded hand.

Bhupat Seemar is sending out six of the 12 runners in the Godolphin Mile — the most any single trainer has ever entered in one race at a Dubai World Cup meeting. His string is headed by G3 Burj Nahar winner Commissioner King and runner-up The Camden Colt, Group 3 Firebreak Stakes winner Mendelssohn Bay, American Grade 1-placed World Record, and last-start handicap winners Zandvoort and Diamond Dealer. Commissioner King and Mendelssohn Bay drew the inside gates (posts one and two). “Commissioner King and Mendelssohn Bay are the form horses, they’ve got the ratings,” Seemar confirmed. “But there are some young pretenders coming along at the right time.”

🏇  BET: Commissioner King from gate one is the most straightforward ticket in the race — inside draw, form horse, proven at the track. Diamond Dealer at a bigger price is the value play if Seemar’s barn fires.

$1,000,000 Group 1 Dubai Kahayla Classic (Sponsored by Zabeel Feed Mill)

A two-time champion who just keeps coming back.

First Classs is a Dubai legend. The Doug Watson-trained Arabian has won the Kahayla Classic in 2022 and 2025, arriving off the back of a Group 1 win in Saudi Arabia. Watson was unequivocal: “He’s just a happy horse who loves the attention. He came back in really good shape, didn’t lose much weight at all. The goal at the beginning of the year was to win a third Kahayla.”

🏇  BET: First Classs to win. He’s done it before, he’s fit, and his trainer is singularly focused on making history here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What time does the Dubai World Cup start on Saturday?

The Dubai World Cup (Group 1, $12 million) is the final race on the card and is scheduled to go off around 9:45 PM local time (GST) at Meydan Racecourse. Racing begins in the afternoon, with the main card running across nine stakes races.

Is the Dubai World Cup run on dirt or turf?

The Dubai World Cup itself is run on dirt over 2000m (approximately 10 furlongs). Other races on the card use different surfaces — the Sheema Classic and Dubai Turf are run on the Meydan turf course, while the Al Quoz Sprint and UAE Derby use the Tapeta all-weather track. Check each race individually before placing your bet.

Who is the favorite for the Dubai World Cup in 2025?

Forever Young is the overwhelming chalk heading into the 2025 Dubai World Cup. The five-year-old Japanese-bred has won back-to-back Saudi Cups and the Breeders' Cup Classic, and a victory here would make him the highest-earning racehorse in history. He was third at this meeting 12 months ago and returns in better form.

Can I bet on the Dubai World Cup at MyWinners?

Yes — international racing including Dubai World Cup night is available through MyWinners. The meeting is run as pari-mutuel wagering, meaning your win, place, and show bets, as well as exotics like exactas, trifectas, and superfectas, are pooled. Check the MyWinners racing schedule for post times and available pools.

What is the best bet on Dubai World Cup night?

The best single bet on the card is Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup. He's the highest-rated dirt horse in the world right now, his connections have made the journey specifically for this race, and the prize incentive — becoming the highest-earning racehorse of all time — adds extra motivation. For value elsewhere, Northern Champion in the Al Quoz Sprint offers an interesting each-way play as an unexposed sprinter, and Commissioner King from gate one in the Godolphin Mile is a solid short-price ticket.