A night of a thousand stars
This is one event that simply surpasses itself each year.
If you had any doubts that the Dubai World Cup meeting could get any better, Saturday night's absolute thriller should have wiped them all out.
This is one event that simply surpasses itself each year. There were so many memorable moments, from JJ The Jet Plane's nail-biting win in the Al Quoz Sprint to Victoire Pisa's poignant victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.
I don't think that the script could been better written even by a certain John Grisham or Jeffrey Archer.
From the minute South Africa's superstar sprinter JJ The Jet Plane stormed down the Meydan home stretch to win an exciting renewal of the Sprint, I knew that we would be in for a special night's racing. And I wasn't wrong.
Few of us were prepared for what was in store when Rocket Man went into turbo-drive to win the Dubai Golden Shaheen on the All-Weather track.
It was a breathtaking performance that established the Singapore-based speedball at the forefront of the best sprinters.
The Australian-bred horse was all class as it exhibited an astonishing level of dynamism and speed not seen since the massive American sprinter Big Jag won the race in 2000.
In between these two spectacular sprint races Dubai's very own Godolphin stable helped themselves to a quick double, with Skysurfers and Khawlah, who made history by becoming the first filly to win the UAE Derby.
The three-year-old daughter of Cape Cross, who previously won the UAE Oaks, looks a very promising type who is certain to continue her upward curve.
Packed field
I was totally caught up in the way Ryan Moore rode Presvis to win the Duty Free by threading his way through a packed field to find daylight, after finding his horse blocked from the start. I know Ryan to be a really smart jockey who's not easily rattled, but even his die-hard fans must have had their hearts in their mouths watching how he made a difficult race look so simple.
The stage had been nicely set up for the race for the holy grail — the Dubai World Cup. And what a race it was.
Despite hitting his head in the stalls VictoirePisa delivered the final plot to the night when winning the race. The atmosphere at Meydan was electric — the cries of joy and sorrow from the large Japanese contingent who were overwhelmed and emotionally wrecked by the victory.
What an awesome night it was.
