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Laurel River managed to upstage everyone at the Dubai World Cup on Saturday night with a stunning, front-running tour-de-force in the $12 million Group 1 showpiece race at the Meydan Racecourse.
While the world fussed over the Japanese contingent led by title holder Ushba Tesoro, KabirKhan as the great story to tell with a UAE connection, and Newgate and Senor Buscador for the big American hopes, it was the Saudi Arabia-owned Laurel River with UAE connections also, who had the last laugh.
He put up a performance by a rank outsider at the DWC since 2017 when Arrogate sprung a surprise out of the blue.
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Juddmonte Farms, the same operation that campaigned Arrogate, elected to transfer Laurel Mischief from America to the Dubai-based stable of Bhupat Seemar in the summer of 2023.
To say things were off to an inauspicious beginning would be an understatement of monumental proportions, as Laurel River faded tamely to finish seventh in the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint (1200m) in late January, but he bounced back to post an equally emphatic victory in the G3 Burj Nahaar (1600m) on Super Saturday to punch his ticket to World Cup night.
Conventional wisdom dictates that winning the Burj Nahaar leads to a start in the Godolphin Mile over the same course and distance on the big night, but the call was to route the six-year-old to the Dubai World Cup instead: a race 12 times as valuable, but incrementally more challenging on a few levels, not least the 2000-metre distance of the race.
After drawing 12 of 12 at Wednesday’s barrier draw at the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa, many would have downgraded the chances of Laurel River.
Yet, the homebred decisively surged into a clear lead at the midway stage and went on to score by eight and a half lengths, breaking that particular record held by the legendary Dubai Millennium, who won the 2000 World Cup at Nad al Sheba by six lengths.
Trainer Bhupat Seemar said: “I’m still coming to terms with what’s happened. I think it’ll probably sink in in another day or two. It’s absolutely amazing. Tadhg said this morning ‘we’re drawn 12, I’m not going to be two-minded about it, I’m going to go forward'.
“He’s got so much natural pace. He comes out of the gate and this is why we ran him over six furlongs (in the Al Shindagha).
“Tadhg was able to get some easy fractions and then I saw Defunded coming on his outside but he just kept on going further. I expected to see all the closers flying at him but he kept going.
𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐁𝐀𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐔𝐏! 🏆#DWC24 | @emirates | @BhupatSeemar | @OsheaTadhg | @JuddmonteFarms pic.twitter.com/7leBFoluHX
— Dubai Racing Club (@RacingDubai) March 30, 2024
The horses who finished in Laurel River’s wake Saturday amplified just how impressive his victory was. Last year’s winner Ushba Tesoro raced far back for the opening 1,600 metres, but wound up with his customary late run to finish second, just beating out recent Saudi Cup winner Senor Buscador for the $2.4 million second prize. Senor Buscador added to his $10 million payday in Riyadh with another modest cheque for $1.2 million.
O’Shea said: “I’ve been fortunate enough to have had Dubai World Cup night winners but you don’t get many opportunities and I’m going to be forever grateful to Juddmonte for keeping me on the horse, they could use anyone and they’re a worldwide operation that’s really successful.
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“When he had his first run for the stable we thought he’d disappointed, but we never lost faith. He was explosive last time and I said the other morning to Bhupat, I pulled him aside and said I’d never ridden a horse with his ability ever. And he’d just done an easy work on his own.
"With the dirt you can’t be half-hearted, you have to go forward. If he didn’t stay, he didn’t stay. We were aware of that. The main thing that won the race, it’s easy to say when you win, but I was able to keep filling him up and filling him up.”
Ushba Tesoro's jockey Yuga Kawada defended the seven-year-old: “He was in good form and he ran his race. It was a good run. We managed to beat Senor Buscador today but the winner was too fast and stayed really well in front. We will be prepared for the Breeders’ Cup and I believe Del Mar will suit him better than Santa Anita.”
