Planteur may have plum draw to help win Dubai World Cup

Although an inside draw would seem beneficial in the Dubai World Cup, it has been those positioned in the middle of the track that have held the upper hand in the three runnings at Meydan.

In total, six of the nine finishers in the first three in these years have come from a stall between five and nine and stretching results back across the last decade, no stall has provided more winners than number seven.

Connections of Planteur, who was third at Meydan last year, chose this stall this time and he has to be considered at 14/1 to hand stall seven its fourth Dubai World Cup win in 10 years.

Lucie Botti, the wife of Planteur’s trainer Marco, was especially happy with the draw and stated: “The first part was lucky and now we hope that luck continues into the race itself.”

Stall six has filled the frame in each of the last two years and this bodes well for the chances of Side Glance, who may generate some each-way interest at 20/1.

Of the favourites, the draw has certainly worked out best for Royal Delta in stall eight, which is where Monterosso broke from to claim victory 12 months ago.

Royal Delta has won five of her six starts, including in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, and is 4/1 to add another in the Dubai World Cup.

It is Hunters Light that is the marginal favourite at 7/2, even though stall four has not been beneficial in the last decade.

In fact, not one runner in the last 10 years has finished in the first three from stall four, although it has been responsible for the fourth-place finisher in each of the last two years.

Of the other market leaders, Animal Kingdom (5/1) will begin from stall 12, while African Story (9/1) opens from stall 11.

These are less than favourable given that of the 15 horses to have finished in the top five across the last three instalments of the Dubai World Cup, only two have been drawn 10 or higher.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.