Gloria de Campeao, ridden by Brazilian Tiago Pereira for French trainer Pascal Bary, made all the running to win the world’s richest horse race, the US$10 million Dubai World Cup, on Saturday.
The victory was well-deserved compensation after the horse finished second to US raider Well Armed in last year’s race, although a distant 14 lengths behind.
It was a close-run thing this year as it looked as if Lizard’s Desire, ridden by Kevin Shea for South African trainer Mike de Kock, was going to catch Gloria de Campeao on the line.
PHOTO: AFP
In a desperate photo-finish, the seven-year-old, a 16-1 chance in London betting, just held on by a nose from Lizard’s Desire (33-1) with Allybar (16-1) a short head away when finishing third out of 14 runners.
“He’s a wonderful horse. He always tries,” Gloria de Campeao’s trainer Bary told AtTheRaces TV.
The victory is worth a massive US$6 million to winning connections, but Bary said: “At the moment, I don’t speak money, I speak horses.”
Beaten jockey Shea thought at first he had just grabbed the spoils on Lizard’s Desire, telling the Racing Post: “When we crossed the line I really thought I might just have done it, but then I was not sure.
“He has run the race of his life and been denied by the narrowest of margins,” he said.
“It is very disappointing to be beaten so narrowly, but it was great to be involved in such an exciting race,” he said.
Victorious Pereira, who also won last year’s Singapore Cup on Gloria de Campeao, said: “The horse deserved that after a great run in this race last year.”
US challenger Gio Ponti, second to Zenyatta in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, finished fourth.
Fancied English raiders Gitano Hernando and Twice Over were further back along with France’s Vision d’Etat, who had to pass a morning vet’s examination before being allowed to run.
The race, by far the most valuable in the world, capped the spectacular official opening of the US$2 billion Meydan complex, which has been described as the eighth wonder of the world.
In other lucrative action, the US$5 million Dubai Sheema Classic went to young English jockey William Buick who scored in his first Group One ride for his new retaining trainer John Gosden when partnering the filly Dar Re Mi to a 9-1 success.
Al Shemali, a 40-1 outsider, won the other US$5 million race, the Dubai Duty Free, for jockey Royston Ffrench and leading Dubai trainer Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
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