The 2023 Dubai World Cup runners are spearheaded by the current champ Country Grammer. The Bob Baffert runner will be looking to successfully defend his title in Saturday’s lucrative $12 race, with Frankie Dettori riding again and hunting a record-breaking fifth win in the Meydan contest.
Best Dubai World Cup Betting Sites
2023 Dubai World Cup Runners Headed by Current Champ Country Grammer
The Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammer landed the Dubai World Cup 12 months ago and is back for more. Like last year, he will be ridden by Frankie Dettori again too, as the pocket Italian embarks on what is his final season in the saddle.
Country Grammer got the job done last year by 1 3/4 lengths and in the process gave trainer Bob Baffert his fourth success in the $12m race.
The horse returned 15/2 in the betting last year, but this time the best horse racing betting sites are taking no chances with his Dubai World Cup odds. Country Grammer has been installed as the general 9/4 Dubai World Cup favourite with most firms.
Frankie Dettori Bidding for His Fifth Dubai World Cup Success
At the end of last year, popular jockey Frankie Dettori announced this will be his last season riding, with the curtain to come down at the Breeders’ Cup Meeting in November.
Therefore, we can expect Frankie to want to go out on a bang his season and the first of those potential ‘big bang’ races is this Saturday’s Dubai World Cup.
Dettori has already performed his famous flying dismount in this race four times and needs just one more win to be the all-time winning jockey. He currently shares the spoils with top former US jock Jerry Bailey.
Frankie’s past Dubai World Cup wins came in 2000 (Dubai Millennium), 2003 (Moon Ballad) and 2006 (Electrocutionist) – all for Godolphin and trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, who has himself saddled 9 wins in the race.
While, as mentioned, his latest success came just 12 months ago with Country Grammer, who he teams up with again in 2023.
Country Grammer Looking to Become Only Second Ever Back-to-Back Winner
The Dubai World Cup was first run back in 1996, with the classy Cigar smoking his rivals to win that year, but since we’ve only ever had one ‘back-to-back’ winner. That came in 2018 and 2019 when the Godolphin horse Thunder Snow managed to defend his crown.
Country Grammer will, therefore, be bidding to become just the second repeat Dubai World Cup winner this Saturday.
A Strong Japanese Presence In This Year’s Dubai World Cup
There are 15 2023 Dubai World Cup runners heading to post for Saturday’s race and one of the big talking points is that a massive 8 of those are trained in Japan.
Therefore, we’ve over half of the Dubai World Cup field coming over from the Far East, with Panthalassa, Ushba Tesoro and T O Keynes the three shortest in the betting at present.
We’ve also got top UK-based jockeys riding two of the Japanese runners. Oisin Murphy, who is recently back from a ban, gets the leg-up on TO Keynes, while Ryan Moore, who is still to win the Dubai World Cup, rides Jun Light Bolt.
The other runners from Japan in the field are Vela Azul, Crown Pride and Cafe Pharoah. While Japan’s only Dubai World Cup win came in 2011 with the Katsuhiko-trained Victoire Pisa.
RELATED: When is the Dubai World Cup? 2023 Date, Race Times & Full Race Schedule
2023 Dubai World Cup Runners: Latest Entries and Betting Odds
The 2022 hero Country Grammer heads the betting for the 2023 Dubai World Cup as he looks to become only the second horse to win the race in ‘back-to-back’ years. There are 15 runners for the 2023 Dubai World Cup – see the latest betting with Paddy Power below.
- #4 Country Grammer @ 9/4
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Frankie Dettori - #1 Algiers @ 11/4
Trainer: Simon & Ed Crisford
Jockey: James Doyle - #9 Panthalassa @ 8/1
Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi
Jockey: Yutoka Yoshida - #14 Ushba Tesoro @ 10/1
Trainer: Noboru Takagi
Jockey: Yuga Kawada - #13 T O Keynes @ 10/1
Trainer: Daisuke Takayanagi
Jockey: Oisin Murphy - #15 Veal Azul @ 10/1
Trainer: Kunihihiko Watanabe
Jockey: Christian Demuro - #3 Cafe Pharoah @ 12/1
Trainer: Noriyuki Hori
Jockey: Joao Moreira - #7 Geoglyph @ 14/1
Trainer: Tetsuya Kimura
Jockey: Christophe-Patrice Lemaire - #5 Crown Pride @ 16/1
Trainer: Koichi Shintani
Jockey: Damian Lane - #12 Super Corinto @ 20/1
Trainer: Amador Merei Sanchez
Jockey: Hector Berrios - #8 Jun Light Bolt @ 20/1
Trainer: Yasuo Tomamichi
Jockey: Ryan Moore - #6 Emblem Road @ 20/1
Trainer: Ahmad Abdulwahed
Jockey: Adel Alfouraidi - #11 Salute The Soldier @ 33/1
Trainer: Fawzi Addulla Nass
Jockey: Adrie de Vries - #10 Remorse @ 66/1
Trainer: B Seemar
Jockey: Tadhg O’Shea - #2 Bendoog @ 66/1
Trainer: B Seemar
Jockey: Christophe Soumillon
Note: Odds are subject to change.
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