DUBAI, March 19: Sakhee, officially the best racehorse in the world, bids to add the Dubai World Cup to his impressive list of triumphs Saturday by taking the sport’s richest prize.

Last year’s brilliant winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe spearheads a strong challenge from trainer Saeed bin Suroor and his Godolphin stable, who also have Street Cry, Best Of The Bests and State Shinto entered for the $6 million race over 10 furlongs (2km) at Nad Al Sheba.

Sakhee, who will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, is odds-on favourite at 4-6 in London betting to see off an international field including entries from the United States, Britain, France and Japan and follow in the footsteps of previous Godolphin winners, Almutawakel (1999) and Dubai Millennium (2000).

“He is official world champion. He won his prep race last month in good style and that should have fine-tuned him,” said Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford.

Sakhee topped the international rankings for 2001, but has run just twice on dirt. The five-year-old faces some formidable opponents, including Japanese duo Agnes Digital and To The Victory.

The former, a 4-1 shot to clip Sakhee’s wings, landed the Hong Kong Cup in December while To The Victory (16-1) finished second behind Captain Steve in last year’s World Cup.

British hopes lie with the Marcus Tregoning-trained Nayef (11-2), who like Sakhee, is owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.

Nayef, winner of the Group One Champion Stakes at Newmarket last year, is yet to be confirmed as a World Cup runner though, with connections having also entered him in the Dubai Sheema Classic on the same card.

Other leading contenders include Western Pride, trained by James Chapman in the United States, who bids to become the fourth American to land racing’s top prize since Cigar won the inaugural running in 1996.

Chapman does not lack for confidence in his charge, despite odds of 20-1 against the four-year-old.

“Everything else will have to run well to beat him,” he said. “The horse is 110 per cent.”

The World Cup is the highlight of a seven-race card on Saturday, which features four other Group One races with a total of $15.25 million in prize money up for grabs.

The races will be screened to a live television audience of 2.6 billion around the world.

Latest betting

4-6 Sakhee

4-1 Agnes Digital

11-2 Nayef

6-1 Street Cry

12-1 Best of the Bests

16-1 To the Victory

20-1 Western Pride

25-1 Keltos

33-1 and upwards others.—Reuters