Twice Over World Cup Draw Prompts Price Drift

Several leading bookmakers saw the betting odds on Twice Over (Observatory) drift northwards from 9/4 to 11/4 as he drew the 12 stall ahead of the world’s richest race this Saturday. He moves one stall to the right from his 2010 run in the World Cup as he came out of the 11 stall last year to finish a well-beaten tenth.

The stall draw also gave Cape Blanco (Galileo) the 4 slot, which saw him trimmed from 9/2 to 4/1 by most major bookmakers. A price cut on a horse shipping into Dubai this soon before a race must certainly raise a few eyebrows with the betting public.

Wide post positions have not been helpful during the Dubai World Cup as the best finisher in last year’s race running from a double-digit stall was Mastery (Sulamani) who finished fifth.

Mike De Kock’s Golden Sword (High Chaparral) has been given the far right draw with the 14 stall in the Dubai World Cup.

There is a massive $10,000,000 up for grabs to the top finishers in the world’s richest race. It appears as though fans of Twice Over could be getting a premium on a proven Dubai contender if he is able to navigate the wider draw this time.

Being run out of the 12 stall will likely force his hand and put him near the lead. Should Twice Over avoid getting stuck particularly wide, and be able to avoid a wall of horses on the run-in, then the race will set up quite nicely for the Henry Cecil-trained horse.