Abu Dhabi: The second Dubai World Cup in 1997 saw American jockey Jerry Bailey emulate his 1996 success — but it also represented a significant personal triumph for Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Torrential rains had waterlogged the Nad Al Sheba track and race after race were lost under sheets of water, forcing Shaikh Mohammad to abandon the $4m (Dh14.68m) showpiece after inspecting the track.
The race was rescheduled five days later and Shaikh Mohammad, who had famously drawn his hand across his throat to declare that the World Cup could not go ahead as planned, ordered UAE Air Force helicopters to hover over the track to dry it out.
His attention to detail and determination were rewarded when his five-year-old bay horse, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Singspiel, was first past the post.
Prior to the race, there had been further drama to add to the weather woes when Frankie Dettori, who was originally scheduled to ride Singspiel, was declared to team up with Godolphin’s Kammtarra.
Trainer Sir Michael Stoute attempted to book Gary Stevens to replace him, but the American turned down the offer, preferring to stay in sunny California.
His luck proved to be Bailey’s gain as Stevens’ compatriot repeated his victory of the year before with Cigar.
Singspiel was an established international performer at the highest level, having won the Canadian International Stakes and the Japan Cup in 1996, but had never previously competed on dirt.
Yet, in Dubai in 1997, he took the lead approaching the final furlong and won by one-and-a-quarter lengths and one-and-a-half-lengths from Siphon and Sandpit, two Brazilian-bred horses trained in the United States by Richard Mandella. Meanwhile, the Japanese mare Hokuto Vega was fatally injured in a fall approaching the straight, bringing down the British colt Bijou d’Inde.
In 2010, Singspiel would himself perish after contracting laminitis — a disease that affects hooved animals — and had to be put down.
His 1997 heroics will never die in Dubai horse racing aficionados’ minds, however.
