Transcend to race in Dubai

The five-year-old Japan Cup Dirt and February Stakes champion Transcend will join the JRA's two-time defending horse of the year Buena Vista in the prestigious March 26 race.

Transcend had been set to run in the Grade Two Godolphin Mile before his recent run of red-hot form prompted trainer Takayuki Yasuda to enter the Dubai World Cup.

Japan's Arima Kinen champion Victoire Pisa will also be among a high-quality field for the 2,000-metre race on Dubai's synthetic all-weather surface.

No Japanese horse has ever won the world's richest horse race, which pays out $6 million to the winner.

Cigar (1996), Dubai Millennium (2000), Curlin (2008) and Well Armed (2009) are among those who have triumphed at Meydan Racecourse since it was launched in 1996.