Lord North Set to Defend His Title in Dubai Turf

Lord North  is set to defend his crown in the Dubai Turf (G1) at Meydan March 26 after his comeback in last week's Betway Winter Derby (G3) and is in great shape, according to connections.

The 6-year-old was running for the first time since landing the nine-furlong contest on Dubai World Cup day in 2021 when chasing home the classy Alenquer  at Lingfield Feb. 26.

Alenquer is also set to head to Meydan, for the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), but Lord North is likely to face other British-trained hopes in the $5 million contest, such as the smart 4-year-olds Mohaafeth  and Saffron Beach .

Joint-trainer John Gosden said, "Lord North was entitled to need his comeback run at Lingfield after such a long spell off and has come out of that in good shape.

"The plan is still to go back to Meydan for the Dubai Turf on World Cup night, which he won last year."

Lord North, an earner of more than £2.3 million ($3,034,593) in prize-money, was an easy three-length winner in the Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World (G1) last year, when coming off the pace to run down the Japanese-trained Vin de Garde .

He is a general 5-1 second favorite for the Dubai Turf behind the Japanese-trained Schnell Meister , who will be bidding to keep the good run of his home nation going after their success on the Saudi Cup undercard last weekend.