UAE: Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa has been given the go-ahead to run in the Dubai World Cup as part of an eight-strong Japanese contingent in the $12 million contest at Meydan on March 25 – when he could become the highest prize-money earner in the history of racing.
Trainer Yoshito Yahagi had been mulling over whether to run the six-year-old on dirt in the main event or to defend his crown in the Dubai Turf, in which Panthalassa dead-heated 12 months ago with Lord North.
But he told Netkeiba on Wednesday [March 8] that Panthalassa will stay on dirt in Dubai, with Saudi Cup-winning rider Yutaka Yoshita keeping the ride.
While currency conversions make reliable comparisons a tricky proposition, Panthalassa is currently third in Japan’s all-time prize-money list behind Almond Eye and Gentildonna, both of whom earned significant sums in Dubai during their careers. (These figures include overseas earnings: Kitasan Black tops the list at home on JRA tracks with a career total of ¥1,876,843,000 – about £11.45m).
However, the world’s all-time leading money earner is Australia’s mighty mare Winx, who retired in April 2019 with a 33-race winning streak, 25 G1 wins and prize-money equivalent to £14.56m.
Panthalassa’s current total is £11.6m – which means that victory in Dubai, where first place prize-money just shy of $7m (about £6m), would be more than enough to claim the #1 spot.
Japan is set to field as many as eight runners in the World Cup, where Panthalassa will face a rematch with the four horses who followed him home in Riyadh – headed by the 2022 Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer, who was beaten three-quarters of a length in second place.
Also coming on from the world’s richest race are Cafe Pharoah (third), Geoglyph (fourth), Crown Pride (fifth) and Jun Light Bolt (seven) – all of them representing Japanese trainers.
The Japanese team is completed by Japan Cup hero Vela Azul, who switches to dirt, plus Kawasaki Kinen one-two Ushba Tesoro and T O Keynes.
Japan has won the Dubai World Cup only once in 2011, when Victoire Pisa beat compatriot Transcend in a famous result on the old Tapeta surface.
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