Laurel River turned the Dubai World Cup into a procession when running out a wide-margin winner for local trainer Bhupat Seemar and jockey Tadhg O’Shea.

Formerly trained by Bob Baffert, the Juddmonte-owned six-year-old was trying the 10-furlong trip for the first time but with two furlongs to run had the race won.

The likes of Derma Sotogake, Ushba Tesoro, Newgate and Kabirkhan had garnered most of the pre-race talk, with Laurel River almost sneaking in under the radar.

It looked a brave decision to step him up in trip, despite winning a Group Three by almost seven lengths over a mile last time out.

O’Shea was allowed to dictate the race from a long way out and under no pressure, he went further and further clear.

Entering the final furlong, he was still 10 lengths ahead and while Laurel River understandably got tired late on, he crossed the line well ahead of Ushba Tesoro and Senor Buscador.

The winning trainer said: “I would like to thank Juddmonte and His Royal Highness for sending me the horse. I was worried that they might be going too fast but Tadhg got the right fractions and also a breather into him.

“It’s the greatest feeling to have won this race, but what he was doing in the mornings made me think, ‘what has this horse got?’

“There is so much stamina in his pedigree but his training was out of this world.”

O’Shea added: “I tell you one thing, I have never ridden one as good as him. I never dreamed I would win the Dubai World Cup, it really is the stuff of dreams.

“He behaved like a pony; he hit the gates and did everything from the front, it was unbelievable. He gave himself every chance to get the distance, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Kikkuli could be Juddmonte’s “dark horse for the year” as he prepares for the early stages of his three-year-old season.

A half-brother to the mighty Frankel and by the owners’ Classic-winning sire Kingman, he is the last foal out of Kind and is fittingly trained at Beckhampton by Harry Charlton, the training facility from which Kind blitzed her way to two Listed victories during her on-track career.

With such a regal bloodline, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the colt’s Newmarket debut towards the end of last season, where Kikkuli showed plenty of promise to keep on for second behind subsequent Listed scorer Zoum Zoum.

The third from that seven-furlong maiden, Balmacara, has recently given the form a timely boost and connections are hopeful there is plenty of untapped potential still to be seen from Kikkuli this term.

“Harry is happy with the horse and feels like the horse has done well from two to three, he has got a lot stronger and is training nicely,” said Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon.

“His debut is good form and I think Kikkuli was ready for a day out that day. Harry had said he was far from the finished article.

“It’s good form and we would like to think there could be some improvement to come, so he could be a dark horse for the year.”

Kikkuli is set to stick to calmer waters for the time being with the goal of shedding his maiden status in the early stages of the campaign, while the hope from his team is that he could blossom into a big-race contender by the time Royal Ascot arrives later in the summer.

“We will probably start off low key with him and go for a maiden or a novice and then just see how we go,” continued Mahon.

“If he is going to make into good horse, then it will be probably from Royal Ascot time onwards he will be stepping into those good races.

“But if we can get a maiden or a novice done in the next six weeks or so it would be great and we can just move up slowly from there.”

Bluestocking will have “unfinished business” to take care of when she returns to the track for her four-year-old season, with York’s Middleton Stakes or the Tattersalls Gold Cup possible early-season options.

Trained by Ralph Beckett, the Juddmonte-owned filly acquitted herself with real credit during her three-year-old campaign and although she failed to add to her Salisbury juvenile success, she finished outside the top three only once in six starts, rattling the crossbar in some of the biggest races of the season.

She had the misfortune of bumping into Aidan O’Brien’s Warm Heart on three occasions, including when placed at Royal Ascot, while it was another Ballydoyle filly, Savethelastdance, that thwarted her Irish Oaks bid in the dying strides.

The daughter of Camelot was last seen going down valiantly by a neck in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes and connections are desperate to see if she can finally get her hands on a major middle-distance prize this term.

“Bluestocking is back and looks great. I’ve just seen her and we feel like we have a bit of unfinished business with her,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for Juddmonte.

“She’s gone close on a few occasions; her Irish Oaks run was obviously a big run and her Champions Day run was also huge.

“She looks great and she could start in the Middleton Stakes perhaps and there’s also the Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland – she likes the Curragh, so that’s a possibility – and we will aim her at all those high-class middle-distance fillies’ races throughout the year.

“I think she has got a little stronger from three to four and she’s grown, so I think there is definitely some more to come from her.”

Kimpton Down handler Beckett may be without Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Westover this season, but he could be the man responsible for Juddmonte’s main Classic hopes in both the colts and fillies’ divisions.

Frankel colt Task Force found just Vandeek too good when second in the Middle Park Stakes as a two-year-old and is being prepared to head straight to Newmarket for the Qipco 2000 Guineas, where he is as short as 12-1 to emulate his sire.

Mahon continued: “Ralph says we have some lovely horses and I’m not sure we will have much for the trials – Ralph is indicating Task Force is going to go straight to the 2000 Guineas without going to a trial.

“Task Force is in great shape and I’ve just seen him and he looks to have wintered well. We’re very happy with him and if his work is good then he will go straight to Newmarket.”

Beckett and Juddmonte could also be represented in the following day’s Qipco 1000 Guineas by Oh So Sharp Stakes runner-up Skellet and Lingfield maiden winner Indelible, with both fillies pleasing their handler in the early parts of the spring.

Kingman filly Skellet is another who could head straight to Newmarket on the first weekend of May, with Indelible the most likely of the duo to take in one of the key trial races over the coming month.

“It’s a little bit of the same as Task Force with Skellet and we have two nice fillies there, as we also have a nice one called Indelible, who is a Shamardal out of Midday,” added Mahon.

“Indelible won her maiden nicely at the backend of last season and one or the other might run in a trial, with the other probably going straight to Newmarket.

“It’s just a case of working out over the next four weeks how they are training and see. They look well and Ralph is happy with where they are at.

“With every week that goes by, they will keep on improving and maybe if we were to run one, it might be Indelible who goes for a trial. But we’re not hung up on it either and if they both need a bit more time they can go straight to Classics from where they are.”

Time Lock and Bluestocking give owner-breeders Juddmonte a strong hand in the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.

Time Lock has made steady progress throughout the season for the training partnership of Harry and Roger Charlton and appears to have hit form at just the right time with Qipco Champions Day in mind judged on an impressive Group Three victory at Newmarket three weeks ago.

The Ralph Beckett-trained Bluestocking finished third in the Ribblesdale Stakes, second in the Irish Oaks and fourth in the Yorkshire Oaks earlier in the season, but was unable to make the most of having her sights lowered when touched off by Al Qareem in a Listed event at Chester last time out.

Juddmonte’s racing manager Barry Mahon admits testing conditions at Ascot will not be ideal for either filly, but feels both merit their place at Ascot.

“They’re two lovely fillies, the ground is an obvious concern I suppose for both of them, but they have both shown they can handle it on occasions,” he said.

“Time Lock ran well on Goodwood on heavy ground when she finished third in the Lillie Langtry and obviously Bluestocking was second in the Irish Oaks on soft ground, so they have run well on soft before, it just depends how testing it is.

“It’s the end of the season, it’s a lovely place to finish up and it’s nice to have both of them in it with a chance.”

Time Lock would be a popular winner for Derby-winning trainer Roger Charlton as he prepares to fully hand over the licence to his son Harry at the end of the season.

“She is in great form and is on the right path, growing in confidence with her success. It looks very competitive with a big field but she’s in as good form as any of the others at the moment,” said Charlton junior.

“It’s hard to be too confident as the conditions aren’t ideal. We’d be going with more confidence if they weren’t looking at so much rain, as good ground would have been ideal, but she handles soft.”

The likely favourite for the Group One contest is John and Thady Gosden’s Free Wind, one of five rides on the day for Frankie Dettori on what is set to be his final competitive appearance in Britain.

The five-year-old was well held in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe three weeks ago, but her narrow defeat at the hands of Warm Heart in the Yorkshire Oaks in August arguably sets the standard.

“Free Wind found the ground a bit lively in the Arc. Frankie looked after her and that’s one of the great things about him, he’s very quick at knowing when they aren’t enjoying it,” said John Gosden.

“He wrapped up on her with 400 metres or so to go and that’s why I can entertain running her again here – she seems in good form.”

Aidan O’Brien saddles Jackie Oh, who was narrowly denied an Arc weekend victory when touched off by Blue Rose Cen in the Prix de l’Opera.

The daughter of Galileo will be tackling a mile and a half for the first time this weekend, but O’Brien does not expect the longer distance to be a problem.

“We always felt a mile and a half was within her compass and ease in the ground will definitely be a help to her. She’s very genuine and we’re really looking forward to her,” he said.

Coolmore saw off Godolphin and Juddmonte to land a Frankel yearling for 2,000,000 guineas on the second day of the Book 1 sale at Tattersalls in Newmarket.

Standing in the gangway, Coolmore’s MV Magnier was determined to secure the beautifully-bred colt, consigned by Anthony Oppenheimer and Hascombe and Valiant Stud.

“He is lovely horse and from a very successful stud in Hascombe, which has bred very good horses in the past and are very good breeders,” Magnier told Tattersalls.

“This is a well-bred horse; Frankel is flying and everyone (from the Coolmore team) liked him – and he goes to Ballydoyle.”

Oppenheimer, who was sat in the ring to see his colt sell, said: “So far we have done quite well, and sold four, and we have more to sell (over the whole of the October Sale).

“There were no regrets at all when he was going around the ring. I did not think we’d get as much as that; I know he is a very nice horses – refuelling the stud’s finances and it can’t do any harm!”