American trio looks to recapture World Cup glory

Champions Royal Delta and Animal Kingdom, and synthetic specialist Dullahan,

will try to end America's recent frustration in the Group 1, $10 million Dubai

World Cup on Saturday. Among those standing in their way are the top three from

the 2012 World Cup -- defending champion Monterosso, Capponi and Planteur -- as

well as the red-hot Hunter's Light.

When the world's richest race was held on the dirt at its original home of

Nad al Sheba, the stars and stripes often waved proudly, with a total of eight

winners from 14 runnings. The move to Tapeta at Meydan in 2010, however, changed

all that, and United States-based runners have been totally shut out ever since.

But that recent trend could be obliterated by this year's three-pronged American

raiding party, all of whom have won on synthetic surfaces in the past.

Royal Delta, a bad-trip ninth in last year's World Cup, promises to carve out

a better passage with her sharper early speed. The two-time Eclipse Award winner

is in great form at present, with a three-race winning streak spanning the Grade

1 Beldame Invitational, a successful title defense in the Breeders' Cup Ladies'

Classic, and an effortless romp in the Grade 3 Sabin in her recent prep.

Her Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott, famously won the inaugural World Cup

with Cigar in 1996, and it would be fitting if he were to become the first U.S.

trainer to win a World Cup on synthetic. A Royal Delta victory would be historic

on another front: the daughter of Empire Maker would be the first female to take

the prize. The best finish by a distaffer so far was the runner-up effort by

Japan's To the Victory in 2001.

Animal Kingdom seeks to join Silver Charm as the only Kentucky Derby heroes

to win the World Cup. The Graham Motion charge missed this race last year

because of an injury, but has returned to action with a pair of terrific

performances in defeat. A troubled, late-closing second to Horse of the Year

Wise Dan in the Breeders' Cup Mile in his comeback, Animal Kingdom made an

arguably premature move in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf and got run down by

the top-class Point of Entry. The strapping chestnut bids to enhance his resume

before retiring to Arrowfield Stud in Australia, underscoring the importance of

his presence here.

Dullahan might not have the raw star power of his compatriots, but is

unquestionably at his best on synthetic. Trained by Dale Romans, who sent out

Roses in May to capture the 2005 World Cup, Dullahan collared Game on Dude in

track-record time in last summer's Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He

previously turned a rare Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity/Grade 1 Blue Grass double at

Keeneland, achieved only once before, by the great Round Table. Dullahan's local

prep in the Group 3 Burj Nahaar on Super Saturday went wrong from the beginning,

when he was off a step slow and rushed up. It was no surprise that he had little

left for the drive, fading to 11th, and should be an entirely different

proposition in the World Cup with new rider Gary Stevens.

Godolphin's Monterosso aims to become the first two-time World Cup winner,

but the Mahmood al Zarooni trainee enters under a cloud this time. Unlike last

year, when he resurfaced with a useful fourth in the 2012 Group 1 Maktoum

Challenge Round 3, Monterosso trudged home a non-threatening ninth in the same

course-and-distance prep on March 9. The son of Dubawi must improve considerably

to be involved in this far tougher spot. Monterosso will be making his third

straight appearance in the World Cup, having finished a close third in 2011.

Stablemate Capponi has an even more difficult task, for he hasn't run since

his second-place finish a year ago. Nearly all World Cup winners have had a

recent prep, and even the two who were just starting their campaigns (Singspiel

in 1997 and Almutawakel in 1999), had raced the previous fall. On the plus side,

Capponi was a star at the 2012 Carnival, when he ran away with the Maktoum Round

3, and a return to anything like that form would see him crack the superfecta.

Planteur attempted the 2012 World Cup off a layoff, finishing a creditable

third. Trainer Marco Botti learned from that experience and decided to give the

well-bred son of Danehill Dancer a prep this time, in the February 23 Winter

Derby Trial at Lingfield. Planteur responded with a cozy neck victory in

track-record time on the Polytrack. Just purchased by Sheikh Joann bin Hamad al

Thani, he is eligible to give his new Qatari owner a quick return on investment.

Godolphin fields one of the early favorites in Hunter's Light, who has won

five of his last six and dominated in both of his starts at the Carnival. After

bolting up by 3 1/4 lengths in the Group 2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2, the Saeed

bin Suroor charge followed up with a 2 3/4-length decision in Round 3 on Super

Saturday. Hunter's Light was continuing his rich vein of form from Europe,

where he starred in the Anatolia Trophy over the Tapeta in Istanbul and the

Group 1 Premio Roma on turf, before heading to Dubai.

Bin Suroor will be represented by two others in the World Cup -- the

progressive handicapper Kassiano, a fast-finishing second to Hunter's Light in

the Maktoum Round 3, and course-specialist miler African Story, who is

unexpectedly stepping up to about 1 1/4 miles for the first time. African Story,

an easy winner of last year's Group 2 Godolphin Mile on World Cup night, would

have been a prohibitive favorite in that event, especially after his comeback

score in the March 9 Burj Nahaar at the metric mile. The Pivotal gelding has

never raced past a mile, and faces a distance test here.

Treasure Beach closed for sixth in the Maktoum Round 3 in a sneakily-good

debut for Mike de Kock. The son of Galileo was formerly trained by Aidan O'

Brien, for whom he won the Group 1 Irish Derby and Grade 1 Secretariat in 2011.

His best result of 2012 was a second to Point of Entry in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch

Turf Classic Invitational.

Two World Cup runners, Red Cadeaux and Meandre, were last seen finishing

first and third, respectively, in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase on December 9. Both

have questions to answer in these conditions. Red Cadeaux made his name as a

stayer, just missing in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup in 2011, and hasn't raced over

this short a trip in four years. The Ed Dunlop veteran is capable on synthetic,

though.

Meandre, a three-time Group 1 winner at 1 1/2 miles on turf, could do no

better than fourth in his synthetic experiment at Chantilly on March 2. But that

warm-up was at a metric mile, and the crafty trainer Andre Fabre must have seen

what he wanted in order to let him take his chance here.

Rounding out the deep field is multiple Group 3 victor Side Glance, another

who has spent nearly all of his career on turf. A remote third to Frankel in

last summer's Group 1 Queen Anne, he was most recently fourth in the Group 1

Jebel Hatta on Super Saturday.

Post positions will be drawn on Wednesday.

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