Thirty years ago, American Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott played a starring role in putting Dubai on the international racing map when he saddled the legendary Cigar to win the inaugural $4 million Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba racecourse in 1996.
It was a landmark victory that helped establish Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai’s ambitious new showpiece, as a major event on the global racing calendar.
This weekend at the 43rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky Mott has another chance to make history for Dubai by delivering one of the few major prizes still missing from Sheikh Mohammed’s extraordinary Godolphin collection, the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
The event will bring the sport’s global elite into America’s horse country. Spread over two days, on October 30-31 the thoroughbred racing spectacle features 22 races, including 14 Grade 1 championships, worth more than $34 million in purses and awards. The meeting’s fourth visit to Keeneland also coincides with the racecourse’s 90th anniversary.
Godolphin’s elusive Classic crown
Godolphin has amassed 21 Breeders’ Cup victories, beginning with Daylami in the 1999 Turf, making it the meeting’s most successful single ownership entity. But never has a horse won the Classic racing in the stable’s famous royal blue colours. Mott has two opportunities to end that wait in an eight-runner field bristling with threats.
In 2008, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable shared ownership of Classic winner Raven’s Pass. That victory is counted separately from Godolphin’s record. The royal-blue silks are still chasing their own Classic breakthrough.
Mott’s headline contender is Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner and reigning American Horse of the Year. A fever ruled the Godolphin homebred by Into Mischief out of last year’s Classic; a hind-foot abscess then interrupted this season’s preparations, forcing him to miss September’s Jockey Club Gold Cup. His last run was in August’s Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, which he won emphatically.
Sovereignty starts from gate two as the second favourite while tablemate Knightsbridge, a commanding winner of the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, breaks from seven.
Mott believes Sovereignty belongs among the elite but acknowledges the strength of the opposition. “I think he fits in with the world’s best,” said the American.
Standing in Godolphin’s path is Japan’s formidable Forever Young, a globetrotting superstar whose extraordinary résumé includes two $20 million Saudi Cups and a historic Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph.
Forever Young is also bidding to emulate Tiznow’s back-to-back Classic victories in 2000 and 2001
Golden Tempo, this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, and 2026 Dubai World Cup hero Magnitude add further firepower to a race worthy of its top billing.
Yet beyond the Classic, Godolphin’s most famous winning partnership may have its strongest hand on grass.
Charlie Appleby, William Buick and Notable Speech reunite for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. The five-year-old returns to defend the title he seized at Del Mar last year. Successes in the Lockinge, City of York Stakes and Woodbine Mile underline his enduring class this season.
The Godolphin-Appleby-Buick partnership has won four of the last five Miles, and Appleby remains quietly confident.
“If he ticks all the boxes this week and gets a good draw, he’s going to be dangerous,” Appleby said.
Appleby and Buick also combine with El Cordobes in the $5 million Turf, where the imposing European opposition includes Aidan O’Brien’s Diamond Necklace and defending champion Ethical Diamond. The Godolphin runner is drawn five at 15-1.
Dubai has another intriguing representative in Saturday’s $2 million Sprint. Sultan Ali’s Dark Saffron, trained by Ahmad bin Harmash and ridden by Connor Beasley, has twice repelled international challengers in Meydan’s Dubai Golden Shaheen.
Now the Kentucky-bred sprinter becomes the overseas raider, returning to the state where he was born. He has not raced since his March Golden Shaheen victory, but his trainer has prepared him specifically for this assignment.
Source: Khaleej Times