Algiers is the new kid on the block - but should he be so short in the market on all known form?

Since the Dubai World Cup was switched back to dirt in 2015, the winning performance on Racing Post Ratings has ranged from 121, achieved by Thunder Snow and Mystic Guide in 2019 and 2021 respectively, to the 131 posted by Arrogate in 2017.

Given that one of the influences for the return to dirt was Tapeta's reputed unpopularity among US-based trainers, it's notable just how quickly horses from the US have resumed business as usual. Pre-Tapeta, from the race's inception in 1996 to 2009, the US won 57 per cent of runnings (eight out of 14), a strike-rate matched in the years since Meydan replaced that surface with dirt (four out of seven).

This year's field stacks up well against recent standards, with seven of them boasting RPRs good enough to have won at least one of the last seven runnings. Heading the field from a form perspective is last year's winner, the US-based Country Grammer, whose RPR of 125 places him just ahead of the mean.