DUBAI World Cup night was a celebration of age, the five Group 1 races falling to a five-year-old, a trio of six-year-olds, and a seven-year-old. Most are very familiar to followers of global racing, and three of the five were Irish-bred.

The night’s feature, the Dubai World Cup won by the US-bred Laurel River, had an Irish element to it, winning trainer Bhupat Seemar’s wife being a Tipperary woman, Caroline Joyce. There have been few more popular winners of the race, a local training success that was a masterclass in coolness by the successful trainer.