The weight of expectation hangs on the shoulders of Frankie Dettori as he goes into tomorrow's Dubai World Cup meeting knowing that he is expected to win the world's richest horse race, the Emirates-sponsored US6million Dubai World Cup. Dettori rides last season's Arc de Triomphe hero Sakhee, the horse whose only defeat for owners Godolphin came when edged out by Tiznow in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park.
Judged by both the official ratings and the markets of British bookmakers, Sakhee is confidently expected to further enhance his reputation as a world-beater. But when the Dubai World Cup meeting was first conceived in 1996, Godolphin founder Sheikh Mohammed made it clear he wanted the very best international challengers to be attracted to Dubai. And this year that is exactly what he has got.
In the big race, Japan sends top-notch performer Agnes Digital and last year's runner-up To The Victory, Western Pride comes from the USA and French trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias saddles Keltos. Dettori himself fears Agnes Digital the most of the 10 rivals he will do battle with under the floodlights. 'Agnes Digital's form is rock-solid and the horse is red-hot, the Italian said this week.'
But others fear that Sakhee's greatest challenger could come from within the Godolphin camp as they also saddle Street Cry, Best of the Bests and State Shinto. All three are talented performers but Street Cry made a first-class impression then winning a round of the Maktoum Challenge - beating State Shinto by more than eight lengths - in a time only fractions slower than that registered by Sakhee in his prep-race four days earlier.
The strength of the opposition and concerns surrounding Sakhee's action on dirt have not shifted his odds from 2/5f as he dominates the market. Street Cry and Agnes Digital are available at 4/1 while the each-way bet of the race, Best Of The Bests, could make the frame at 16/1.
