Dubai World Cup 2021 Betting Picks, Horses, Odds Preview

Second-tier U.S. horses leave door open to Dubai World Cup 2021 upset. Read our horse betting preview, check odds and get free bet bonus with the US horse betting sites, such as Amwager, use code AMGAMBLER.

Dubai World Cup 2021 Betting Preview

In yet another sign that it’s been a strange year in horse racing, the 25^th running of the $12 million Dubai World Cup – the second-richest race on the planet – appears to be something of an afterthought among U.S. horsemen.

Fans are prohibited from attending Saturday’s big race because of COVID-19 restrictions, but top U.S. trainers will be absent by their own choice, names like Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher.

Without a heavy favorite from a leading American barn to focus on, bettors could be confused and overlook some of the lesser-known contenders from other points on the globe in the Group 1 race for older horses run at 2000 meters (about 1 ¼ miles) at Meydan Racecourse.

The betting opportunity in the Dubai World Cup also may boost interest in the stakes-laden undercard, which features five other Group 1 races and three Group 2 contests.

The Dubai World Cup will be widely available for watching and wagering in the U.S. The main event and undercard races will be seen on both Fox Sports 1 and the TVG cable network beginning at 8 a.m.

Betting will be available in the U.S. at most racetrack and simulcast sites and through online betting sites. Check with your provider in advance to ensure you aren’t shut out. Bets for the race will be mingled with wagers made from “across five continents,” the Daily Racing Form reported, which should improve the prices for U.S.-based players.

Historically, bettors have been wise to focus on U.S.-based runners in the World Cup, as they have taken down exactly half of the previous 24 runnings of what was the world’s richest horse race before being eclipsed last year by the $20 million Saudi Cup and then canceled by the coronavirus.

Dubai World Cup 2021 Horses & Odds

Dubai World Cup Best Picks for 2021

But with the top older U.S. horses – notably Charlatan and Knicks Go – skipping the Dubai race 2021 betting bonanza after running in Riyadh, the U.S. contingent doesn’t have quite the usual luster.

That’s not to say they are slouches.

Mystic Guide, a 4-year-old son of Ghostzapper trained by Michael Stidham, has won three times – most notably the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga and the Razorback Stakes at Oaklawn Park, both Grade 3s — and has never finished off the board in seven starts. He figures to be the favorite, largely based on his familiarity to U.S racing fans.

Jesus’ Team, who was won just three of his 14 starts, offers some intrigue, as the son of Tapiture has finished 2^nd in his last two starts vs. Grade 1 competition in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Sleepy Eyes Todd also will get his share of attention off his fourth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, followed by a fifth-place finish in the Saudi Cup. But the Grade 2 winner’s late-running style will work against him for a victory, barring a blazing speed duel in the desert.

Title Ready, winner of five of 25 starts for trainer Dallas Stewart, figures to be the longest shot among the U.S. horses, coming off his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes at the Fair Grounds in his last start.

My point isn’t to avoid the U.S. runners altogether — I think the top two have decent chances of winning – but to season your betting with some horses who will adequately reward you if they come through.

Unfortunately the organizers of the Dubai World Cup haven’t yet figured out that early past performances help build interest in a race, so I watched as many videos of the contenders as I could find and looked at a few historical trends in the race to come up with my selections.

Here’s what Dubai World Cup 2021 predictions and picks I came up with:

1. Capezzano figures to go to the front and be pressured by Salute the Soldier, Mystic Guide and possibly one or two others. So the pace should be honest if not on the fast side.
2. In the absence of the top U.S. horses, horses that prepped in the local Al Maktoum Challenge races should not be ignored, as the races have frequently served as a launching pad for the region’s big races. Last year, for example, Benbatl came out of a victory in the first round race to run to run a close-up third behind Maximum Security and Midnight Bisou in the inaugural running of the Saudi Cup. The horses with strong efforts in this year’s preps are Military Law, Salute the Soldier and Thegreatcollection.
3. Look for horses owned by Godolphin Racing, the horse racing operation established in 1992 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. The stable, which will be represented this year by Gifts of Gold, Mystic Guide and Magny Course, has won the race eight times. It’s not surprising, if you think about it, that the Dubai royal family would put winning the emirate’s namesake race on its “to do” list each year.
4. A second, related angle is to favor horses trained by Saeed bin Suroor, a former Dubai police officer who became Godolphin’s chief trainer in the Middle East. Suroor has won the race nine times – seven times for Godophin and twice for Sheikh Mohammed’s brother, Hamdan Al Maktoum. Four of those victories have come in the last six runnings. That angle would point to Gifts of Gold, who will be by far the longest price of the Godolphin horses.

Taking all that into account, I’m going to use the top two U.S.-based horses – Mystic Guide and Jesus’ Team – in trifectas with a couple horses from those other compass points. They are Magny Cours, the Godolphin runner I’m most interested in as he makes his first start on dirt for the brilliant French trainer Andres Fabre; Military Law, who chased a very hot pace in the Saudi Cup before wilting to sixth; and Thegreatcollection, a 7-year-old Florida-bred who ran on late to finish second in two rounds of the Maktoum Challenge.

If you want to take a real flyer, throw in a light wager on Ajuste Fiscal, a Uruguayan-bred and based son of the brilliantly named if little-known sire Ioya Bigtime. The Antonio Cintre-trained 5-year-old is a multiple Grade 1 winner on the dirt in marathon distances in his native country and finished a close-up third in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 won by Salute the Soldier. But that was the long-winded Ajuste Fiscal’s first start off a layoff and the added distance should help him make up that ground.