Joao Moreira will ride Gun Pit in both of the dirt star’s Dubai starts after rival jockey Zac Purton made the agonising decision to forgo rides on the world’s richest race night and instead partner sprinter Aerovelocity in Japan the following day.

Gun Pit will begin his two-start campaign next Saturday at Meydan, but with trainer Caspar Fownes wanting the same jockey on board for both runs, Purton was forced to pick between a potential massive payday and shooting for back-to-back wins in the Group One Takamatsunomiya Kinen on Aerovelocity.

“It was a tough call, because I could have potentially had a few other rides on World Cup night as well, but the timing doesn’t allow for me to ride at both meetings and I had to make a decision,” Purton said.

“Aerovelocity has never let me down and he is going to be one of the favourites there at Chukyo, while we don’t really know how Gun Pit will handle the dirt over there at Meydan.”

Fownes had Moreira ride Gun Pit in light work yesterday morning and the five-year-old was due to arrive in Dubai late last night ahead of a planned start in the Group One Al Maktoum Challenge Round Three (2,000m) at the Super Saturday meeting on March 5.

“It was important to have the same jockey on him for both races because I need a guide on how the horse handles the surface and which race we go to second-up,” Fownes said.

Depending on how he performs next Saturday, Gun Pit will run in either the US$1 million Group Two Godolphin Mile (1,600m) or US$10 million Dubai World Cup (2,000m) on March 26.

Meanwhile, if Gun Pit comes through unscathed, Moreira will have at least two rides on World Cup night, with trainer Tony Cruz confirming a return to Dubai with star sprinter Peniaphobia.

Cruz said the on-again, off-again plans for the 2015 Hong Kong Sprint winner to return for the Group One Al Quoz Sprint, where he was second to Irish speedster Sole Power last year, are “most definitely back on”.

The trainer also has overseas aspirations with Beauty Only, who lines up against stablemate Beauty Flame in Sunday’s Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, believing he is an ideal horse to take to Japan in June for the Yasuda Kinen.

“You need a good horse to travel, and of course Peniaphobia has already proven himself, but I think Beauty Only does have the potential to be a top line horse as well,” said Cruz, who won the Yasuda Kinen in 2006 with Bullish Luck. “He would also love the track over there at Tokyo, it’s rock hard and he loves fast ground. ”

Cruz admits that dropping Beauty Only back to 1,400m after a close-up fourth over 1,600m in the Stewards’ Cup isn’t ideal, but he still seems to be favouring the five-year-old over his other beauty.

“A mile is perfect, so this might be a little short but he will be flying home,” Cruz said.

Purton replaces the suspended Gerald Mosse on Beauty Flame and will be instructed by Cruz to try and dictate from in front.

Cruz sends out Blazing Speed and Helene Super Star in the Group One Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, a race he won twice as a jockey before four more as a trainer with Deauville (1997), Bullish Luck (2004), Perfect Partner (2005) and California Memory’s upset win in 2011.

“It’s been a good race for me and I think Blazing Speed can run a big race here,” he said of the three-time Group One winner. “He is needing further as he gets older so his fifth over a mile in the Stewards’ Cup was very pleasing. Helene Super Star was another horse we were looking at for Dubai, he has been invited to the Sheema Classic but it is looking less likely that we will go.”