West Coast Seeks Dubai World Cup Glory

The torch has been passed pretty cleanly the past few years.

The best dirt horse in the world was California Chrome , until Arrogate  came and took the mantle. Then Gun Runner  ascended and claimed it from Arrogate.

So, with the retirement of Gun Runner, the assumption has been made—at least stateside—that Gary and Mary West's West Coast, by virtue of his clear second to that rival in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), is the heir apparent.

But that crown is not bestowed. It is earned. And West Coast has the opportunity to do just that in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) March 31 at Meydan.

Already a commanding favorite in international racebooks—his odds range from 11-10 to 4-5 for the 2,000-meter (1 1/4-mile) dirt race—all eyes will be on the bay Flatter  colt trained by three-time World Cup-winning trainer Bob Baffert.

"He has to go out and get it," Baffert said of the 2017 Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner, who went on to finish third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) before his Pegasus effort. "He's been the bridesmaid—he's been the one chasing. But he's a champion 3-year-old. He has to step it up now. That's what we do. We just wait and hope—expect the worst and hope for the best, otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy."

Baffert is confident in West Coast's ability and how the colt stacks up against a quality field of 10 in the World Cup, but he regularly tempers expectations. He doesn't have to look too far back to recognize how quickly things can change. A year ago, Arrogate provided one of the most impressive performances in the history of the World Cup when he broke last and stormed home late to best Gun Runner by 2 1/4 lengths. But Arrogate, who went on one of the most impressive four-race streaks in recent history, never won again.

"We're happy to be here, but we're used to coming here," said Baffert, who first won the World Cup in 1998 with Silver Charm, then followed with victories with Captain Steve (2001) and Arrogate. "You just hope. We're just happy to be here, and it's a privilege to have horses like this. ... You just hope they show up, because that's a long flight back home. You just don't know. You don't know if they're going to show up. You can think they're doing great, and they don't show up."

While it's settled that West Coast will be the clear favorite in the World Cup, his main challenger is up for debate.

West Coast is one of seven grade/group 1 winners in the field, and the international markets have four horses hovering from 7-1 to 10-1—the local, last-out Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1) winner North America, who figures to be the pace of the race; Godolphin's Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) winner Talismanic; Charles Fipke's Longines Breeders Cup Distaff (G1) winner Forever Unbridled, one of two mares in the field; and Gunnevera, who finished third, but 10 3/4 lengths back, behind West Coast in the Pegasus.

The Dallas Stewart-trained Forever Unbridled, who earned champion older dirt female honors in the United States after a three-for-three 2017 season, will look to become the first female to win the Dubai World Cup. Her connections have stated she will be retired after the race to be bred this season.

"We're happy to be here, proud to be invited here, and hopefully she'll represent us well," Stewart said of the four-time grade 1 winner, who has only raced against her fellow females in 17 starts. "She's always represented us well. She's always dedicated to winning, and she takes it to the limit every time she goes. We're just hoping that (she) will continue doing that in Dubai."

Talismanic will make his first start on dirt in the Dubai World Cup. Since his Breeders' Cup Turf score at Del Mar, the white-faced, Andre Fabre-trained son of Medaglia d'Oro  finished second in the Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1) and won an allowance race on the all-weather track at Chantilly in March.

"Lots of factors (contributed to the decision to try dirt)," said Lisa-Jane Graffard, the racing representative of Godolphin in France. "The horse trained pretty well on the dirt at Del Mar before Breeders' Cup. He's a very adaptable horse with a great mind, so it really encouraged us to try something like this."

For the deep closer Gunnevera, who has won just once since his Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) score just more than a year ago, he'll have to deal with what appears to be a lack of speed in the race, but trainer Antonio Sano also reported March 28 that the chestnut Dialed In  colt has some minor foot bruising.

"It's a little bruise—that's it," Sano said. "We're not worried at all."

The question of pace is compelling, and although North America appears to be the clear speed on paper, Baffert indicated it might not be so simple. The Hall of Fame trainer also has Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum's Mubtaahij in the race. Mubtaahij set the pace and finished second last time out in the March 10 Santa Anita Handicap Presented by San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino (G1) and has experience at Meydan, where he competed twice in the World Cup (second in 2016 and fourth in 2017) after winning the 2015 UAE Derby Sponsored By Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) when he was trained by Mike de Kock.

"There'll be a North American horse on the lead—I don't know if it'll be (North America). California boys don't come here to take back," Baffert said, nodding over to Doug O'Neill's top assistant, Leandro Mora, who traveled with Reddam Racing's Pavel for his World Cup run.

Pavel has shown promise since his debut as a 3-year-old in July of 2017 at Santa Anita Park, and although he hasn't put everything together to win a top-level event yet, Mora has been happy with how the Creative Cause  colt has trained at Meydan.

The second Godolphin horse entered is the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Thunder Snow, likely known best among U.S. racing fans for his imitation of a bucking bronco during the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). Since then, however, the Helmet colt has won the Prix Jean Prat (G1) at Chantilly and placed in four other group 1 events, including a second-place run in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 behind North America. In the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Sponsored By Gulf News (G2) a month prior, Thunder Snow was the victor, with North America second. Bin Suroor has won the World Cup a record seven times.

Rounding out the field is the second mare, Furia Cruzada, a multiple group 1 winner in Chile who has gone winless in three Meydan starts in 2018 (she finished third in the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3); and Awardee, half brother to 2016 Triple Crown participant Lani and Japan's lone representative in the field. He finished fifth in last year's World Cup and has two grade 1 placings, but he hasn't won a race since November of 2016, when he took the JBC Classic at Kawasaki.