Well what a night at the Dubai World Cup. The final race of the UAE season proved to be no disappointment as the runners raced in the World's richest race for $10,000,000. The Japanese horse Victoire Pisa led home a Japanese 1-2 and who could begrudge the Japanese something to cheer after all the horrors in their country which has left parts of their country destroyed and uncontrolled dangers such as radiation are still circulating.
It was touching when Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum embraced warmly the owners the feelings of joy for the owners were all too much and the warmth was a real gesture of feeling towards the victory that has come out of a grim reality. The race itself was a slow muddling race early on with plenty of incident. Mirco Demuro, the 23 year old from Italy, sat at the tail of affairs watching the incidents and at the end of the back straight made a daring and risky move to go round the whole field and be challenging for the lead coming in to the straight. He just kept finding a little more as the challengers queued up to have a go at him and although Transcend got to within half a length he could be called the winner a long way out.
I was working on the radio and the reaction of the Japanese radio next door summed it all up. As the horses entered the last 400m little cries of hope increased in volume and excitement. There was a yell as the horses crossed the line, they put
their hands in the air embraced and after a quick dignified celebration they went back to their work as if nothing had happened.
Other giant performances were seen throughout the night and perhaps the highlight was the Ryan Moore ride on Presvis in the Dubai Duty Free. Turning in to the straight this far from straightforward horse, trained in Newmarket UK by Luca Cumani, was in plumb last but Moore found the gaps and managed to weave his way through the field masterfully to win a touch cosily.
Another enigmatic horse is Rewilding and he won the Sheema Classic very easily. He produced a devastating turn of pace to come with a conquering run in the home straight to score quite comfortably under an ecstatic Frankie Dettori who was completing a double. This was a great vindication for the Godolphin team with Mahmood Al Zarooni enjoying a Godolphin winner after his team mate and rival Saeed Bin Suroor had notched a double. Earlier Skysurfers had won the Godolphin Mile under a vintage Dettori ride seeing off a determined Richard Hills of Mufarrh. It was an exhilirating finish with both jockey going head to head with Bin Suroor's charge managing to overhaul Ali Rashid Al Raihe's charge and maintain a small advantage up to the line.
Bin Suroor also doubled up in the finish of the night when Khawlah won the UAE Derby. The first filly to win the race is now set for a classic season in England aiming for the Musidora at York before the Oaks. It was the tightest finish of the night and the nose she beat Aidan O'Brien's Master of Hounds was so close it took the judge a minute to split them. It was a great return to the UAE for the Ballydoyle team and they were unlucky not win a race and their Cape Blanco was fourth in the Dubai World Cup. It was lovely to see Sheikh Mohammed welcome Aiden O'Brien so warmly.
Perhaps the performance of the night was that of the Singapore horse of the year Rocket Man in the Golden Shaheen. It is very rare that a sprinter looks to have a race totally under control but the way Pat Shaw's charge won made it look effortless. In the other sprint JJ the Jet Plane left it late to emerge from the sandstorm to hit the front with less than 50 metres to go to beat the three others battling for victory who filled the frame.
A great night for racing was enjoyed by everyone in the field of dreams that is Meydan. Fortunately the sandstorm that threatened the evening early on cleared for the Group 1 races and the crowd left delighted with what they had seen.
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