Monterosso tops world’s richest horse race, captures $10M pot

Dubai—monterosso won the $10 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race, handing the ruler of Dubai an emotional victory after one of his horses was euthanizied earlier Saturday.

Monterosso, who finished third last year, also gave a much-needed confidence boost to Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s stables which had not won the race since 2006. All four of their horses were long shots.

“I feel over the moon,” Sheik Mohamed told The Associated Press. “We haven’t won this race for many years. It was a pleasant surprise really. We had as good of a chance as anyone but we are at home and training here. I’m very happy we won after so many years.”

Capponi grabbed the lead coming into the straight only to see Monterosso bolt past and beat his stablemate by three lengths. Planteur, ridden by three-time British champion jockey Ryan Moore, was another halflength behind. Monterosso jockey Mickael Barzalona stood up in his saddle and raised his arm long before he crossed the finish line.

The favorite So You Think and last year’s runner-up Transcend grabbed the early lead out of the gate. The Bill Mott-trained filly Royal Delta joined the leaders only to fade as did Game On Dude ridden by Chantal Sutherland, who made history as the the first female jockey in the race. Tran- scend also dropped back, finishing last.

So You Think finished fourth, the Japanese star Smart Falcon 10th, and the third favorite Game on Dude 12th in the 13-horse field.

The poor finish for Game On Dude capped a traumatic week that started with its US Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert suffering a heart attack after he arrived in Dubai. He was released only at the end of the week.

His other horse The Factor finished sixth in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen.

Sutherland said Game On Dude struggled in the gate and blamed the all-weather surface for the horse’s poor performance.