Breeders' Cup star Yibir set to lead strong Appleby team on World Cup night

With Super Saturday at Meydan done and dusted, Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby has started outlining battle plans for Dubai World Cup day on March 26, with Breeders' Cup hero Yibir set to lead the charge in the Group 1 Sheema Classic.

Winner of the Great Voltigeur at York before taking the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park and the Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar, Yibir has wintered in Newmarket but is set to arrive in Dubai this week and will start his year on the biggest day of the racing calendar in the United Arab Emirates.

Appleby had considered running improving stablemate Manobo in the Sheema but, with Yibir pleasing his trainer in Britain, Manobo will instead tackle the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup on the same card.

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"At the moment Manobo is heading towards the Dubai Gold Cup," said Appleby. "We toyed with running him in the City of Gold [on Super Saturday] with the potential of looking at the Sheema Classic, but we've got Yibir on track at the moment for the Sheema.

"If he turns up fit and well, then we'll keep them apart and Manobo will head to the Gold Cup."

Whereas Yibir has been based at Appleby's Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, Manobo has been enjoying the sunshine of Dubai over the winter and showed his well-being when an easy winner of the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy at Meydan last month, taking his record to a perfect five from five.

Speaking from Dubai, Appleby added: "Manobo is in Dubai but Creative Force and Yibir are shipping out in the next week. They've got a long summer ahead of them so I didn't want to campaign them out here in any trials, I wanted to bring them straight out for World Cup night.

"They're hitting every target back home, ship out this week and then, if all that goes well, they'll turn up on World Cup night in good form but very much with the season ahead of them."

Creative Force, winner of the Group 1 British Champions Sprint in October, may have his work cut out against stablemate and impressive Super Saturday scorer Man Of Promise when the pair clash in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint.

Appleby said: "William Buick said if Man Of Promise can do the same in three weeks' time you could be dealing with a potential Al Quoz winner. For Creative Force, the Al Quoz is the starting point and he'll hopefully be going on to the Diamond Jubilee."

Man Of Promise: Could pose a problem for stablemate Creative ForceCredit: Edward Whitaker

Appleby is on the cusp of a potentially seismic season in Europe, with last year's leading juveniles Native Trail, Coroebus and Modern Games on the Guineas trail and Classic winners Adayar and Hurricane Lane ready to lead an exciting team of older horses into Group 1 battle.

"They've all wintered fine and are stepping up their work," said the trainer. "They're ticking every box at the moment but I'm very conscious that you never know what weather is going to turn up in March.

"We've had a very mild winter in Britain and everything is very forward at the minute, but you can get sucked into a false sense of security, then all of a sudden Cheltenham comes and you're in a couple of feet of snow!

"None of those horses shipped out to Dubai – I purposely left them back [in Newmarket] because we had enough of a team out here to be busy, and it was very much the mindset to leave those horses back in Britain this year."

Champion two-year-old Native Trail heads the Qipco 2,000 Guineas market at a general 3-1, with Coroebus next in the betting at 5-1. Modern Games, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, is a general 14-1.

Read more international news:

'It will definitely weaken the top end' - Gulf expansion a concern for Britain

Lord North given green light to defend his crown in the Dubai Turf

Hot Rod Charlie camp confident of upsetting Life Is Good in Dubai World Cup

Explosive performance puts Man Of Promise in pole position for Al Quoz Sprint

Alfareeq causes Group 1 upset in Jebel Hatta as slow pace costs Lord Glitters

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