By Emma Berry and Tom FraryWhatever your preference, as long as you are a fan of the Flat, there is something to whet your whistle this weekend. From early this Saturday morning there is top-class fare to entertain us. Have your alarm set for Dubai Honour (Pride Of Dubai) and Vauban (Galiway) in the G1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill, where 4,800,000-guinea Yulong purchase Barnavara (Calyx) also makes her return in the G2 Neville Selwood Stakes. For those with the stamina of a Gold Cup contender, the G1 Florida Derby takes place at Gulfstream Park past some of our bedtimes but, as ever, will deliver a pointer or two for the Kentucky Derby. Wathnan Racing has a strongly-fancied contender in the Brad Cox-trained Commandment (Into Mischief).In between the Australian and American action, some of the best horses in the world will appear at Meydan for the meeting marking the 30th running of the Dubai World Cup, which has so far defied war and storms in the region.Perhaps most excitingly on the domestic front is the reappearance of 2,000 Guineas favourite Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) in the Listed Gladness Stakes at the Curragh. One of only two three-year-olds in the field of 10, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt lines up for the first time since beating subsequent Group 1 winner Power Blue (Space Blues) in the G3 Marble Hill Stakes last May.For some, this weekend will always be about the traditional start of the British Flat turf season at Doncaster, where the Brocklesby Stakes, which is run in memory of the race's winningmost trainer Bill Turner, kicks off a card which includes the valuable Lincoln Handicap as well as the Listed Doncaster Mile and Listed Cammidge Trophy. Then there's Kempton, where Survie (Churchill) adds some extra class to a deep field for the Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes.The Dubai World Cup at 30From epic fury to desert storm, the last month has been anything but plain sailing for the organisers of the Dubai World Cup. Some intended runners have defected but the Dubai Racing Club is fortunate that the world's best dirt horse Forever Young (Real Steel) was already ensconced at Meydan following his second victory in the G1 Saudi Cup on 14 February. His only defeat last year came when he was third behind the 66/1 and 40/1 shots Hit Show (Candy Ride) and Mixto (Good Magic), and last year's winner lines up once more for Wathnan Racing, along with the Saudi Cup third Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance).The Dubai World Cup can sometimes throw up a surprise winner – think Prince Bishop's defeat of California Chrome in 2015 – but the roll of honour also contains plenty of great names, from the inaugural winner Cigar, through to Singspiel, Dubai Millennium, Street Cry, Pleasantly Perfect, Curlin, California Chrome, and Arrogate. Forever Young certainly belongs in that company and only the brave would oppose him on Saturday. His chief challengers look to be Simon and Ed Crisford's Meydaan (Frankel) and the Steve Asmussen-trained four-year-old Magnitude (Not This Time) but they have 12lbs and 10lbs respectively to find on official ratings. The Dubai Sheema Classic, so often the best race on this card, has the best horse in the world, Calandagan (Gleaneagles), as odds-on favourite, and the Japan Cup winner will face last year's shock Breeders' Cup Turf winner Ethical Diamond (Awtaad) as France's champion trainer Francis Graffard takes on Willie Mullins, the reigning champion jumps trainer of Ireland and Britain respectively. The admirable Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman) adds an extra layer of depth to the six-strong field. He got too far back on a tighter track when a fast-finishing third in the HH The Amir Trophy on his most recent start, but his fourth place in the Arc and two excellent runs at the Hong Kong international meeting in the last two years ensure that Marco Botti's challenger should not be overlooked.A run of odds-on favourites at Meydan includes Britain's top turf horse, Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), who represents Godolphin and John and Thady Gosden in the G1 Dubai Turf. He too is well clear on ratings, with Japanese seven-year-old Gaia Force (Kitasan Black), a smart and hugely popular miler in his native country for trainer Haruki Sugiyama, rated 11lbs his inferior. Speaking from Meydan on Wednesday, John Gosden said of Ombudsman, who has spent the winter in Newmarket, “Given that we've got the rest of the season coming, I wanted to train him at home. He had a little awayday at Chelmsford. We're happy with him, he's trained nicely and, as I say, it's been the plan since last October.”A thrilling rematch between Royal Ascot winner Lazzat (Territories) and the Saudi 1351 Turf Sprint winner Reef Runner (The Big Beast) is on the cards in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint. In that same race, the Richard Spencer-trained Run Boy Run (Rajasinghe), is a lively outsider. He's been kept busy in Dubai with five runs at Meydan since the start of the year, including a five-furlong handicap win on 20 February and a follow-up second in the G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint a week later. He's a tough little nut who won last season's Ayr Gold Cup and a good run in the colours of Rebel Racing would be some consolation for owner-breeder Phil Cunningham in the week after the funeral of his father, Phil Sr, who played a key role in the family's racing interests.Jamie Osborne, a stalwart supporter of the Dubai Racing Carnival, has been rewarded with six winners at Meydan this time around, and he will saddle the half-brothers Heart Of Honor (Honor A.P.) and Brotherly Love (Zoustar) in the World Cup and UAE Derby respectively for Jim and Claire Bryce. Osborne landed the G2 UAE Derby 12 years ago with Toast Of New York, who went on to finish second, beaten a nose by Bayern, in the Breeders' Cup Classic.What To Expect From Albert Einstein?Aidan O'Brien's bombshell decision to send Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) to The Curragh has transformed Saturday's card from merely intriguing to can't-be-missed. Not since Johannesburg in 2002 has such an exciting colt turned up in this dear old seven-furlong stepping stone, once used by Dr Vincent O'Brien for Nijinsky and El Gran Senor, and if Constitution Hill was a significant draw midweek at Kempton you can imagine the crowds in Kildare for this specimen.While his two starts in early 2025 were undeniably impressive in the context of what is expected from a precocious two-year-old colt who is Royal Ascot-bound, the music stopped before any kind of second movement and it is impossible to tell what turn the symphony will take from here. Aidan O'Brien has never won a 2,000 Guineas with a colt off such a lengthy absence and that seems to be the logic for this shift in the original plan to keep him asleep and head straight there.Saturday's run is a crucial one in that it could undo all the careful work to shape him into a miler, or it could be the signpost towards Newmarket that connections are hoping it will be. If he was due to follow his stablemate Neolithic (Sioux Nation) up the Curragh straight after racing then he might as well do it in a race and it is certain that all assembled will be appreciative of that decision.We can also be thankful that this Gladness has attracted a Group 1 performer in Ten Bob Tony (Night Of Thunder), last year's Greenham Stakes third Saracen (Siyouni) and the likes of last year's winner Big Gossey (Gutaifan) and the G3 Fairy Bridge Stakes scorer Princess Child (Dariyan) to provide a solid context to whatever Albert Einstein does or doesn't do.With three winners at Naas on Sunday, Ballydoyle have had a strong start to the season but it is too soon to suggest that the whole string is more forward than usual. Along with the two in the Gladness, O'Brien also sends some maidens into action on the card including the well-thought-of George Stubbs (Camelot) in the 10-furlong contest. The half-brother to Galileo's Johannes Vermeer and Wembley received a favourable mention at last week's press day and we will know more after seeing how he performs with the bar set high by Al Shaqab's Beresford fourth Shaihaan (Night Of Thunder).At the end of this fixture, some questions will be answered, some will remain and new ones will be posed. That is the magic of the early days of the Flat season and why we keep coming back year after year.Amo's Force to be Reckoned With?Nothing says start of the turf season quite like freezing yer whatsits off on Doncaster's Town Moor on the last weekend of March. But fear not, faint hearts, for it won't be long until we're all moaning about the heat and fast ground. In the meantime you can warm your cockles by wondering whether the gifted horseman that is Robson Aguiar can help Persian Force on his way to becoming a leading first-season sire, starting with his two runners in the Brocklesby, Blixen Force and Ocean Club. Both colts carry the colours of Amo Racing, for whom Persian Force himself won the Brocklesby in 2022.Ralph Beckett is getting in on the early two-year-old action by fielding the first runner for Darley's Naval Crown, Dance A Jig, for owner-breeder Jeff Smith of Littleton Stud, while Kathy Turner, who succeeded her late father at their yard in Somerset following Bill's passing last August, fields the poignantly named Nevernotrememberu, the first runner for Overbury Stud's Caturra. As detailed in Thursday's TDN, Adam Kirby has named his first Brocklesby runner Bill The Bull (Coulsty) in honour of Bill Turner and will be bidding to add to the success of his first runner, Tuscan Point, who won at Southwell on March 11.The William Hill Lincoln is the main event on Doncaster's opening weekend and Harry Eustace takes on his old boss William Haggas – a five-time Lincoln-winning trainer – with Eustace's La Botte (Too Darn Hot) narrowly shading Eternal Force (Dubawi) at the head of the market. Seven-pound claimer Toby Moore, son of Ryan, is an interesting booking for Charlie Appleby aboard Anno Domini (New Bay), while another father-and-son duo, Neil and Jack Callan, take each other on aboard Metal Merchant (Make Believe) and Galeron (Camacho).Last season's G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Montassib (Exceed And Excel) is another favoured runner for the Haggas team in the Cammidge Trophy, while Eustace also has a big fish to fry when saddling his G1 Queen Anne Stakes winner Docklands (Massaat) for the Doncaster Mile, in which he will take on Juddmonte's 150/1 G1 Sussex Stakes winner Qirat (Showcasing).Survie to Bloom in the Snowdrop Doncaster's good card is backed up by some decent all-weather action at Kempton Park, where Survie (Churchill), a recent returnee from the Middle East after finishing third in the G1 Neom Turf Cup for Doreen Tabor, heads a strong line-up for the Virgin Bet Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes.Originally slated for the Dubai Sheema Classic, the five-year-old is back in Newmarket but has further travels pencilled in, according to her trainer George Boughey.“There has always been a very fluid plan for her and, with all the rainfall in Dubai, I don't think it would have suited her,” he said. “She has trained beautifully for the last while and we're experimenting with different avenues. The mile is a question mark for her but she's nicely drawn and hopefully she can get a good early position. This is basically a trial for the Dahlia Stakes on 1,000 Guineas day and, on ratings, she would be near the top of the market for the Dahlia for the last five to ten years. If she was able to show the pace over a mile it would stand her in good stead and then opens up whether she goes to America for something like the New York Stakes, which is nine and a half furlongs and is usually run at Belmont but is at Saratoga this year on Derby weekend [June 5], or if she goes the more conventional Pretty Polly [Stakes] route.“There are options for her but I think this weekend and then Guineas weekend will guide where we go further forward.”The Virgin Bet/British EBF Conditions Stakes on the Kempton card includes Classic entrants King's Trail (Sea The Stars), an impressive winner for Godolphin over course and distance on debut in December, and Amo Racing's Sin City (Too Darn Hot), who is also one run for one win following his victory at Lingfield last month.Sparks Fly Back at her Favourite TrackThree British raiders head to Saint-Cloud on Sunday to take on the home team for the G3 Prix Edmond Blanc. David Lowe's homebred mud-lover Sparks Fly (Muhaarar) returns to the scene of four of her five stakes wins, including last October's G3 Prix Perth, which she won easily on her most recent start. Skukuza (Blue Point) represents Cayton Park Stud and Ed Dunlop while Wathnan Racing's Native Warrior (Wootton Bassett), trained by Karl Burke, completes the travelling party that will be taking on the in-form Silius (Dubawi), winner of the Listed Prix Altipan for Christophe Ferland at Saint-Cloud on March 5. Qatar Racing's Moon Cloud represents the Francis Graffard stable and has raced solely at Saint-Cloud to date, where she won the Listed Prix Isola Bella last November. Sprint Riches on Offer At ChukyoBy Heather AndersonSunday's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen is the first of only two top-level sprints in Japan, and the Chukyo contest sports a full-field of 18. Leading proceedings in the ante-post market is G1 NHK Mile Cup hero Panja Tower (Tower Of London). Since taking the G3 Keeneland Cup in August, he has twice been fifth – in Rosehill's The Golden Eagle over 1,500 metres in November, and in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint on Valentine's Day.Trying to claim Takamatsunomiya Kinen glory for the first time is Namura Clair (Mikki Isle), who has run home second in each of the last three years. Third in the G1 Sprinters Stakes to Win Carnelian (Screen Hero) in September, the hardy mare ran second in the G2 Hanshin Cup over 1,400 metres to end her 2025 campaign.Third in the market is last year's winner, Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa). The seven-year-old entire turned in a pair of fine seconds in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin last April and in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was most recently ninth two starts later facing the world's highest-rated sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint in December. 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