‘It is by far the greatest honour’ – Ushba Tesoro wins in Dubai World Cup for Japan.
Ushba Tesoro defeated Algiers for jockey Yuga Kawada and trainer Noboru Takagi in the £10 million Dubai World Cup. This was a huge victory for Japan.
Ed and Simon Crisford were denied a fairytale victory as Ushba Tesoro, a towering six-year-old, maintained a relentless run from the back of the pack to claim a sensational victory by two and three-quarter lengths, but attention was drawn to the gold silks of James Doyle as Algiers rapidly closed on the pacesetter Bendoog.
Following the commanding victories of Derma Sotogake in the UAE Derby and Equinox in the Sheema Classic, this victory provided additional evidence of Japan’s global dominance. After Victoire Pisa’s breakthrough in 2011, it was the nation’s second World Cup victory.
Ushba Tesoro was barely able to gallop in turf races in Japan, but since switching to dirt, he has won local Group 1 races in the Tokyo Daishoten and Kawasaki Kinen. Under the desert sky, the relatively unknown contender added one of the sport’s highest prizes to his collection.
Japan’s champion jockey Kawada said: “It was his first time running overseas and there were queries with the travel and the different surface, but he was training quite well here and we knew the horse was in very good condition. It was just a matter of how he could keep his head in the race and he did that very well today.
“There were eight Japanese horses in the field and aside from myself there was only one other Japanese jockey in the race, Yutaka Yoshida on Panthalassa. My horse jumped quite well, but the majority of the other Japanese runners were running mid-to-back of the pack. I just tried to focus on maintaining his rhythm.
“I was riding the horse for the first time but it was a tremendous honour and at the same time there was a lot of pressure leading into this race, but the horse fought on very well.”
Takagi has enjoyed local Group 1 success in his native country with the likes of White Fugue and Sound True, but this success eclipsed any of his previous achievements. “It is by far the greatest honour,” said the trainer.
After the race, the dirt-splattered Ushba Tesoro was full of energy and bucked and shied in the winner’s enclosure. Takagi assured the winning connections that such behavior was normal for the son of Orfevre.
That stallion was cruelly disqualified from the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2012, and his connections are considering competing in the same race with the winner, who is a 20-1 bet with bookmakers. One of the few significant prizes Japan has not yet won is this one.
“He’s a bit bothered by the heat so we’ll see how he progresses over the summer and come up with a plan,” said Takagi. “When he first got here he was quite nervous, but it was expected. As the days went by he gradually got into the environment and today he ran his heart out.”
The Crisfords suffered a heartbreaking defeat as the highly anticipated Algiers began to falter in the final moments, but the Al Maktoum Challenge champion bravely held off the fast-finishing Emblem Road.
“He travelled into it good, didn’t he?” Ed Crisford said. “Turning for home I thought we had it in the bag, but he was treading water for the last half-furlong. He’s never run this distance on dirt before so perhaps he was just outstayed on the day.
“Huge credit to the horse and James, who rode a great race. He’s going to go back to Newmarket and have a little break and then we’ll see.”
Frankie Dettori could oversee seventh on board last year’s victor Country Grammer on his last ride in the Emirates, having scooped a record-breaking third Dubai Turf on board Master North a little more than an hour sooner.
“At least I got one,” he said. “I’m going to have a nice cold beer now.”
He and Ushba Tesoro’s connections deserve it.
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Meydan: ‘This opens up options’ – Algiers odds halved for Dubai World Cup after another Group 2 win.
Paddy Power reduced Algiers’ odds to 6-1 (from 12) for the Dubai World Cup next month as a result of his second-round victory in the Maktoum Challenge. Algiers performed similarly to how he did in the first round, which he won at the track last month.
Under James Doyle, the progressive six-year-old owned by Simon and Ed Crisford triumphed by six lengths over a wide trip and a step up in distance.
“That was pretty good wasn’t it,” the winning rider told Racing TV. “I knew it was going to be a tricky race to ride. It’s the furthest he’s been on dirt but we just wanted to learn something today. He overraced really so to achieve what he’s done off the back of that shows he has a serious engine.”
“This horse is the best dirt horse that we have in the UAE and he’s given them a thrashing over two different trips. It’s exciting and this opens up options whether it’s here or in Saudi Arabia or both.”
With The Moonlight won her first start in Dubai by getting up to deny follow Godolphin-owned runner White Moonlight, turning the Group 2 Cape Verde into a battle of the moonlights.
The mile-long journey appeared to be the minimum for the Frankel daughter, who won the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks while traveling last year and was suited by the pace set by the eventual runner-up. The victory was Charlie Appleby’s fourth in the last five years, and he said that With The Moonlight would probably go up in trip the next time.
“With The Moonlight is a really good filly,” winning jockey William Buick said to Racing TV. “With The Moonlight is a really good filly. This was a nice place to start her back. She was taking on some racefit fillies and did it well.”
When Valiant Prince just got up to win the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes, Appleby and Doyle, who won the first 1m4f handicap with First Ruler together, completed a treble.
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