Euro/Mideast Road finale: Six Speed, Pyromancer square off in UAE Derby

Mar 23, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Six Speed, shown winning the UAE 2000 Guineas, is going for the double in the UAE Derby (Photo by Dubai Racing Club)

As the grand finale of the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby, Saturday’s $1 million UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan offers 100 points to the winner – enough to top the leaderboard and earn a ticket to Churchill Downs.

But two horses can qualify via the Euro/Mideast Road. The remaining points structure for the second through fifth-place finishers in the UAE Derby, on a 60-30-15-10 basis, will determine who receives the other Euro/Mideast Road invitation.

The winners of the past two scoring races in Dubai, Six Speed and Brotherly Love, will square off against UAE Oaks (G3) romper Labwah and Japanese hopes Pyromancer and Wonder Dean.

The UAE Derby is the fourth race (9:30 a.m. ET) on the outstanding program, anchored by the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) featuring Forever Young. The star of the 2024 UAE Derby and near-misser in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Forever Young has since scored in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and just repeated in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1).

Japan was initially expected to have more representatives, in hopes of extending their four-year winning streak in the UAE Derby, but several opted to stay home for Saturday’s Fukuryu S. on the Japan Road.

Godolphin’s unbeaten Pyromancer is taking a detour from the Japan Road, where he captured the Dec. 17 Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun. Wonder Dean has been in the region since his fourth in the Saudi Derby (G3).

Unfortunately, Saudi Derby winner Al Haram, who would have been a prime contender, is unable to travel due to wartime conditions. The Saudi-based colt had his Sunday flight from Riyadh canceled on the advice of the UAE Ministry of Defence. Although not a Triple Crown nominee by the early deadline, Al Haram has 30 points in escrow from his Saudi Derby, along with $900,000 in non-restricted stakes earnings.

Triple Crown-nominated Six Speed, the UAE 2000 Guineas (G3) hero with 20 points in the bank, has been pointing for the UAE Derby ever since. The main question is whether he can carry his speed for the about 1 3/16-mile trip. Owned by an American group, the Kentucky-bred son of Not This Time is one of a quartet of contenders for trainer Bhupat Seemar.

Seemar’s smashing debut winner Salloom, likewise a Kentucky-bred Triple Crown nominee, was heavily favored in the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby race at this course and distance. But the son of 2020 Derby star Authentic acted up in the gate, broke loose, ran off, and had to be scratched. If Salloom can handle the atmosphere on Saturday – a festive crowd for Dubai World Cup night – he is eligible to make amends.

After the shocking withdrawal of Salloom, British-based Brotherly Love closed dourly to take the Dubai Road to the Kentucky Derby race, worth 20 points to the winner. Trained by Jamie Osborne, he shares the same connections as his half-brother, Heart of Honor, who missed narrowly in last year’s UAE Derby. Brotherly Love was not nominated to the Triple Crown by the early deadline, but he may well run himself into a late nomination.

The filly Labwah ran much faster than Brotherly Love when she dominated the UAE Oaks over the same track and trip on the same Feb. 20 card. Salem bin Ghadayer’s daughter of Charlatan secured 50 points for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), but she’s also earned the chance to take on the boys in this spot. Labwah will try to emulate Khawlah, the only filly to win the UAE Derby back in 2011 (during the era when the Meydan track was a synthetic surface).

Godolphin is double-handed, with Pyromancer joined by the Charlie Appleby-trained Devon Island. Not an early Triple Crown nominee, Devon Island twice beat Brotherly Love on the Meydan dirt before finishing second to Six Speed in the UAE 2000 Guineas.

Other contenders include Duke of Immatin and Seemar’s Lino Padrino, the respective second and third to Brotherly Love in the most recent points race at Meydan; Seemar’s Jebel Ali winner Rammaas, whose mother, Rayya, was runner-up in the 2018 UAE Derby (behind track record-setting Mendelssohn); Union Security, the third-placer in the UAE Guineas before checking in 10th in the Saudi Derby; and French shipper Go Man, who has raced exclusively on turf so far.