There can be no room for complacency.
The Dubai Racing Club (DRC) was happy with the number of horses entered from America for Dubai World Cup night on Tuesday, but delve a little deeper and the figures are not as buoyant as they might seem.
Although 24 horses from the United States have been entered for the World Cup on March 28, numbers are still down from last season, when there were 30.
There is more.
Last year, the Dubai Golden Shaheen and UAE Derby attracted 27 US nominations, whereas on Tuesday there were 14 and 10, respectively.
The US entries for the Godolphin Mile has almost halved in that time, too, from 33 to 17 this year.
Last season was the nadir of US involvement on World Cup night. It was the first Dubai World Cup since the race was first run in 1996 that did not have American representation.
There were also no American runners in the Godolphin Mile, and none in the UAE Derby.
Only Zee Bros, who raced at the Carnival for Seth Benzel, represented America in the races that were staged on dirt at Nad Al Sheba. They will now be on dirt again for the first time since Meydan Racecourse opened in 2009.
US racing has always been inwardly focused, which is why Cigar’s odyssey in 1996 to “the desert kingdom” in the Gulf to win the inaugural World Cup became such a landmark event.
In a recent promotional video for the Breeders’ Cup, one interviewee likened the event to the Super Bowl.
American racing is not big on international competition, and with good prize money at home their owners can afford to pass on a trip abroad.
There were 11 horses from across the Atlantic who were entered for this season’s World Cup Carnival.
Through one reason or another, it appears that none of them are going to turn up to race for American trainers.
However, Beyond Empire and Horsted Keynes have appeared without success at Meydan for David Simcock, having previously been trained, respectively, by Kiaran McLaughlin and Graham Motion.
Nominations always need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, but one role they do play well is that they act as a barometer.
Where many were hoping, if not expecting, a wind of change to blow in from across the Atlantic due to the new dirt surface at Meydan, they were disappointed on Tuesday.
There is a bit of good news.
In 2013, there were 272 entries for the World Cup, whereas on Tuesday there were 296, but even this is down from 341 last year.
The DRC are right to be happy that connections from America are still interested in the World Cup meeting, doubly so considering it has ripped up the Tapeta to install a dirt carpet on which to welcome them.
There is clearly a lot of hard work ahead. The DRC must try to get American horsemen to convert their interest.
Otherwise, the great return to dirt will be for nothing.
sports@thenational.ae
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