Dubai World Cup is on despite debt woes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates- Just two days after Dubai outlined a restructuring plan to cope with its massive debt, the emirate aims to be seen in a more favorable light by staging the world's richest horse race at a new $2 billion facility on Saturday.

Dubai's ruler - a well-known horse enthusiast - has spared no expense to finish the Meydan Racecourse in time for the Dubai World Cup, an eight-race meeting with a total purse of $26 million - a huge amount in an economic recession that has seen Dubai's economy plunge into the red.

"It's a mega event that will provide some reassurance for the racing industry by showing that Dubai's ruling family is still heavily involved, ready to invest and willing to keep going," said Sean Ennis, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

With two racetracks, a grandstand that holds 60,000 spectators, a 290-room luxury hotel, a marina and a horse racing museum, Meydan stands as a monument to Dubai's excess. Saturday's card includes the $10 million centerpiece race run for the first time on the Tapeta surface.

Meydan features a left-handed turf circuit outside a smaller synthetic track that is just over a mile long.

Although initial reaction to the track has been upbeat, many of the jockeys and trainers have only had a few days to get used to the synthetic surface, which replaces the dirt at the old Nad al Sheba track.

Several top thoroughbreds expected in Dubai dropped out, including Japan's two-time Horse of the Year, Vodka, and American trainer John Shirreffs' mare, Life is Sweet - making this year's World Cup the most open contest in its 15-year history.

Some of Europe's top 10-furlong horses are in the field, including British-trained Gitano Hernando, the Goodwood Stakes winner at Santa Anita in October. The lone Japanese entry, 4-year-old filly Red Desire, impressed earlier this month in winning the Maktoum Challenge on the Meydan course.

For the premier World Cup race, though, most observers are focusing on Gio Ponti, winner of two Eclipse Awards in 2009.

The 5-year-old from Kentucky is a turf specialist, but his backers hope the second-place finish in November in the Breeders' Cup Classic on an artificial surface will prove beneficial when Gio Ponti races on the similar track at Meydan on Saturday.

In the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic, Presious Passion, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Turf last fall and winner of the Mac Diarmada at Gulfstream on Feb. 28, is among the most fancied.