January 15, 2014 - The Dubai World Cup at Meydan at the end of March could well be the target for Hong Kong’s high-class middle-distance performer Akeed Mofeed, last seen slamming some of the world’s best when landing the richly endowed Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin in December at racing betting odds of 7/2.

The five-year-old Richard Gibson-trained son of Dubawi was landing his second Group 1 contest in the former British colony having taken the 2013 BMW Hong Kong Derby back in March when racing live betting forced his starting price down to just 4/5.

Gibson has outlined a plan to head to Australia and bid for the valuable Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April, but it now appears that connections of Akeed Mofeed, in particular his owner Pan Sutong, have determined that they would prefer to head to the Arabian Gulf instead and tackle a truly international field for the world’s richest horserace.

The strict quarantine regulations in Australia seem to have been the deciding factor in giving the Randwick race a miss. Gibson explained that the Dubai race would allow time for his star performer to return to Hong Kong and run in the QEII Cup at Sha Tin, one of the highlights of the local season.

Akeed Mofeed began his career a long way from the Far East, in Ireland, where he was held in high regard by top trainer John Oxx. Victorious over subsequent Royal Ascot winner Athens at Leopardstown in 2011 before failing by just half-a-length to beat Ballydoyle’s David Livingston in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at the Curragh on his final start as a juvenile, he ran a below-par race when failing to stay 12 furlongs in the Irish Derby, before signing off with a five-length success in listed company at Cork over a mile.