Arrogate passes California Chrome
Arrogate showed his class again as he came from dead last out of the stalls to win the Dubai World Cup by an impressive 21⁄4 lengths Saturday.
With the win, 4-yearold Arrogate became the highest-earning racehorse ever, surpassing Northern California horse California Chrome, winner of the same race last year. Arrogate has grossed $17,084,600 for winning seven races out of eight in his career.
In the second richest horse race in the world at $10 million, run over dirt and 2,000 meters at Meydan Racecourse, Arrogate produced a powerful finish under jockey Mike Smith to beat Gun Runner and Neolithic in a 1-2-3 for the U.S.
The winning time was 2 minutes, 2.15 seconds — slower than the course record set by Chrome last year — but understandable given the soft conditions after a second straight day of rain and thunderstorms in Dubai.
Arrogate, the No. 1rated racehorse in the world, started gaining momentum around the 800-meter mark and swept past more than half a dozen rivals before setting his sight on the leaders. At the top of the straight, Smith was wide and finding a clear path, and coaxed Arrogate to hit top gear. With 200 meters remaining, he caught the leaders, and the result was never in doubt over the last 100.
A relieved Smith said: “The start, it just went wrong and was not what he was used to; he missed it and then found traffic. I thought that was it, but this horse is unbelievable.”
Arrogate gave trainer Bob Baffert his third Dubai World Cup victory after Silver Charm (1998) and Captain Steve (2001). Football: The Cincinnati Bengals released eightyear veteran linebacker Rey Maualuga, saying they were moving to a younger group at the position. Maualuga was Cincinnati’s secondround pick in 2009. He has played in 114 games, starting 104 of them. Swimming: Ryan Murphy won his fourth straight 200-yard backstroke national title and Cal took second at the NCAA swimming championships, won by Texas.
It is the eighth straight season the Bears have finished in the top two, with three national titles in that stretch. Boxing: Tyron Zeuge retained his WBA super middleweight title by unanimous decision over Isaac Ekpo of Nigeria in Potsdam, Germany, despite the bout stopping in the fifth round due to a cut above Zeuge’s eye . ... Jorge Linares beat Anthony Crolla in Manchester, England, by unanimous decision for the second time in six months to keep the WBA lightweight title.