Dubai: Tragedy struck the Dubai World Cup meeting when Godolphin's Fox Hunt broke down on the centre of the Meydan track in the Dubai Gold Cup (G3) and had to be euthanised.
The accident happened as the 13-horse field went past the 300 metres mark in the 3,200 metres contest which is being run for the first time on the Dubai World Cup card.
Fox Hunt, who was positioned on the outside of the field by Silvestre de Sousa, appeared to twist his right front leg and veered sharply before throwing his jockey to the grass.
The race continued with Japan's Makani Bisty leading Mikhail Glinka, Irish Flame and race favourite Opinion Poll, ridden by Frankie Dettori in the Godolphin first colours.
However, as soon as it became clear that Fox Hunt had suffered a serious injury and could not be moved off the track in time, the stewards stopped the race. De Sousa was unscathed in the incident and completed his book of rides for the evening.
"His leg just snapped and I clipped heels which brought me down," said the Brazilian, who was having his second Dubai World Cup for his new employers. "I feel fine, but it's a shame about Fox Hunt as he's a really nice horse with a lot of potential."
Dettori praised the Dubai Racing Club officials for their swift decision. "It would have been a disaster if they carried on with the race. Thank God the officials in the car called out that the race was being called off."
Incident
Melvin Day, the Dubai Racing Club's Senior Handicapper, said: "A horse can break off any time, but I have not seen such an incident in a flat race.
"It can happen in a steeplechase. Quite an unusual happening. Rules stipulate that the race would be void as it is incomplete. The stewards act like policemen and their main concern is to ensure the safety of the horses and riders. It would be unfair to both the jockeys and the horses to start the race again."
Both Fox Hunt and Opinion Poll are trained by Mahmoud Al Zarouni.
The race, however, would have been re-run at 10.25pm last night.
