Take lives a Utopia with sheer pace

Dubai: It was a display of sheer pace as Japanese runner Utopia hacked a classy field to win the $1,000,000 Godolphin Mile (Group 2) to leave followers of form in a tizzy.

The Kojiro Hashiguchi-trained six-year-old son of Forty Niner, with Japan's top jockey Yutaka Take on board, bolted away to the lead once the gates were opened and then made every post a winning one to score the first upset of the night.

Eddie Ahern did come with a late run on pre-race favourite Jack Sullivan, but could only finish second behind the Halis Karatas-ridden Win River Win.

Utopia, who had finished third to Japan's top dirt specialist Kane Hekili, came into the race with some unimpressive form. However, the course seemed to be just to his liking and once he got off to that great start, he just kept on building on it for a fantastic win. It was the star's eighth win in 31 starts, but the effort certainly pleased his connections.

Trainer Hashiguchi, who was screaming away as were the large contingent of fans and scribes from Japan, said: "The start was very good and after that I thought he had a good chance." The only worry the trainer had was whether Utopia could maintain his pace through the mile. "The key factor behind his success was that he could keep his pace," he said.

"This is a great moment for me to be the trainer of a Japanese horse that has won on the World Cup night," Hashiguchi said.

Take, who was to ride another Japanese star, Kane Hekili, in the Dubai World Cup, said he hoped he could pull off another win for the colours in the big race.

"He jumped off to a great start and after that, I could go easy for the rest of the race. Utopia has a lot of power and I am delighted with this win," said the Japanese rider.

Win River Win, from trainer Cemal Kurt's yard, who had finished second to Marbush earlier in the carnival here, did well to run into second place while the Dhruba Selvaratnam trained Marbush finished fourth.