by Steve Bailey

Godolphin stable jockey Frankie Dettori is not sure there is any horse in the world right now that can best American Horse of the Year Curlin.

He is hoping, however, that Group 3 winner Jalil has what it takes to pull the upset on Saturday in the $6-million Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) at Nad al Sheba racecourse.

"You can't get away from the fact that Curlin is the best horse in the world with the best credentials," said Dettori, who has won the world's most lucrative Thoroughbred race on three occasions with Dubai Millennium (2000), Moon Ballad ('03), and Electrocutionist ('06). "Have I been impressed with him? Very much so.

"But he's beatable. Every horse is beatable. We just have to go in there thinking that we can beat him."

Few would have given Jalil, a four-year-old Storm Cat colt, much of a chance to tackle the impressive winner of the Preakness Stakes (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) prior to Jalil's 1 1/2-length victory in the Sakhee Al Maktoum Challenge Round Three on March 6.

Following that victory, however, his third in as many starts on the Nad al Sheba dirt, Dettori and the rest of the Godolphin team realized that the dark bay or brown colt might live up to the expectations inherent in his price tag, $9.7-million as a yearling.

"We all loved him from day one; he was just a really, really nice horse," Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said. "We knew he wasn't going to be a two-year-old—perhaps even a three-year-old—but that didn't concern us. Great horses get beat. He was still a baby, even in his three-year-old season."

In three starts last season, Jalil posted one win and two runner-up finishes on the turf in England, but did not come into his own until he shifted to the dirt at Nad al Sheba in February.

Since then, he has won all three of his starts by a combined seven lengths.

"We have not been surprised by the progress he has made throughout the winter," trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. "His win in the Maktoum Challenge earned him the right to line up against Curlin and the others in the Dubai World Cup.

"He needs to progress again, but we think there is still more improvement to come."

Dettori also predicts more great things down the road for Jalil—beginning, he hopes, with Saturday night.

"He's got fresh legs and every time we've pulled the bar up for him, he's risen to it," he said. "We're just looking for a good draw and a clean ride. But if the Curlin of the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Preakness shows up, he's going to be very, very hard to beat."

Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times