For the first, and possibly last, time the Flat turf season starts in earnest in its no-nonsense surroundings. Doncaster has the builders in, so the 152nd Lincoln Handicap and three other traditional start-of-term events have been transplanted from Yorkshire's most southerly course to its northernmost.Despite Redcar's ordinariness, it has a priceless asset. It is one of only eight courses in the country with a straight mile and a fair one at that, with no marked draw bias. Unlike on Town Moor, the 30 runners will all have the opportunity of giving their supporters a run for their money.Redcar is the Lincoln's fifth home; as well as on the Carholme, where it started life, and Doncaster, it has been run at Lingfield and Pontefract But finding the winner is difficult anywhere. Proportionally, the race has produced more long-priced winners than any other big handicap; 55, or 41 per cent, have started at 20-1 or longer, including three at 100-1.Today's prize may be marked for export to Ireland.
Common World (3.15), trained by Tom Hogan in Co Tipperary, will be suited by the prevailing easy ground, which may be further softened if forecast overnight rain arrives. The seven-year-old improved through last season, stepping up to produce some good performances in minor Group company, and can go two better than last year, when he was poorly drawn.Next on the shortlist is Kamanda Laugh, who ran a fine trial on dirt at Wolverhampton two weeks ago, with Zero Tolerance, another soft-ground specialist, also worthy of consideration.Redcar will enjoy its day in the spotlight but a more permanent new era dawns at Kempton today as the Sunbury track opens for all-weather business. Ouija Board recently gave the new surface her approval with her pre-Nad Al Sheba workout but there is nothing running today fit to polish the nails in her shoes. In a selection of maidens and handicaps Blushing Thief (5.15) can continue his reinvention as a sprinter.Better may be seen at the Curragh tomorrow, on the first day of the Irish Flat season, when Aidan O'Brien gets some of his Classic prospects out at the earliest opportunity, subject to the heavy ground passing his scrutiny. Chenchikova, high in the Oaks lists on the strength of winning her maiden at Tipperary last year and owning an impeccable pedigree - she is High Chaparral's baby sister - has nine rivals in the mile Group Three and Amadeus Mozart, runner-up to his stablemate George Washington, the 2,000 Guineas favourite, in a Group One last term, takes on 25 in the six-furlong maiden..
The planet is nowhere more barren, and nowhere more abundant. In Dubai, glass and steel seem to come alive as new towers, nursed by a forest of cranes and gantries, surge ever higher into the cluttered skyline. Global thirst for the desert's only crop has invested this pulsating emirate with global ambition - measured at Nad al Sheba today by the richest race meeting in history. At $6m (£3.4m), the 11th Dubai World Cup remains the sport's biggest prize, but the supporting card has been dizzily inflated as well.
The Sheema Classic, worth $2m last year, this time carries a purse of $5m, and as such has helped to postpone the retirement of one of the most cherished British fillies of recent years. The presence of Ouija Board makes it difficult for Electrocutionist, the World Cup favourite, to claim top billing on a night when his own stablemate, Discreet Cat, may also command more attention in a fascinating race for the UAE Derby. Having crowned her three-year-old campaign at the Breeders' Cup, Ouija Board came off the rails last summer but retrieved her best to win in Hong Kong in December. This latest adventure provides the perfect prologue to a season that her rider yesterday described as "for sure the most exciting" of his career.Kieren Fallon remains as big a paradox as Dubai itself. The more arid the soil - an alcohol clinic, arrested but not charged, libel cases - the more he seems to bloom. And if he looked conspicuously fit and focused after partnering Ouija Board in her final exercise, little wonder. Earlier in the week, Frankie Dettori made not even the most perfunctory effort to disguise his apathy as he contemplated the new season in Europe.