Cape Blanco Headlines 2011 Dubai World Cup Ante Post Market

Now that the Dubai Carnival is well and truly underway, the attention is already starting to turn towards the prestigious showpiece on March 26. The world’s richest race has just seen its first stage of declarations become official and, as usual, another star-studded line up from all four corners of the globe look set to converge on Meydan racecourse for a shot at horseracing immortality.

Aiden O’Brien’s well-regarded four year-old Cape Blanco (Galileo) is getting the headline treatment at the moment with ante post punters expecting him to bounce back from a disappointing 13th in the Arc De Triomphe last October. Winner of the Group 2 Dante Stakes, the Group 1 Irish Derby and the Irish Champion Stakes; this classy chestnut colt is trading at around 7/2 with most major bookmakers and floats around 5.5 on the exchange. He is unraced in Dubai but that hasn’t held back many of the past winners, expect his price to drop if he gets an emphatic result from a prep-race at Meydan.

Henry Cecil’s Twice Over (Observatory) looks set for another kick at the can and he’s well-backed to improve on his disappointing tenth place finish in last year’s edition of the Dubai World Cup. Aside from a rough trip in the Coral Eclipse in 2009, the World Cup beat is pretty much the biggest blemish on his record and his notable score in the Group 1 Emirates Airlines Champion Stakes at Newmarket was of such high quality – it’s a clear indication that we still haven’t seen the bottom of the Juddmonte-bred.

World-beating filly Snow Fairy (Intikhab) put Asia’s best to the sword when she shipped to Kyoto and Sha Tin for a pair of credible Group 1 scores – one against fillies and mares and the other against star-studded cast in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup. This accomplished Irish-bred bay miss sold for a mere £1500 when she was up for sale in 2008 and a share of the $10,000,000 (US) purse would etch her name in the history books as one of the biggest value scores in the history of racing. She’s the stuff that a pinhookers dreams are made of, surely, and she looks set to improve in her four year-old campaign. Punters can back her at 9/2 with the bookmakers and she’s around 6.0 on the exchange.

Gio Ponti (Tale Of The Cat) headlines the American-based contingent and the mere fact that this six year-old is back in training and ready for an extensive campaign is a reason to give credit to connections. The Christophe Clement-trained bay horse pulled off a fourth-place finish in last year’s edition of the World Cup and that was the only time in 13 races that he finished outside the top two. A versatile performer who always gives an honest race, this accomplished turfist simply gobbles up the grass and he’ll be out there flying the red, white and blue. Look for Gio Ponti around 7/1 with the bookies and 10.0 in the ante post.

Stay tuned to Betting Choice for more insight and analysis on the forthcoming 2011 Dubai World Cup.