Arrogate Goes Last to First to Win the Dubai World Cup
Arrogate overcame a dreadful start, rallied from far behind, and ran off to another multi-million dollar victory, this time in the $10,000,000 Dubai World Cup (G1). His seventh victory in a row came on a blustery evening under the lights at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai against a large field of fourteen international runners.
When the gates opened at the start of the ten-furlong race, Arrogate, who was the (1-9) favorite, was slow breaking. It was the first time that he didn’t have an assistant starter in the gate. Immediately after the start, Arrogate was bumped and pinched back from both sides. The result was that Arrogate was last in the field of fourteen far behind the early leaders Long River and Gun Runner.
“When I got away that bad, I said you know what, I have so much confidence in this horse that I’m going to ride him just like I used to ride Zenyatta,” said jockey Mike Smith. “I missed the break completely. He’s used to having a man with him in the gate. Things happen for a reason and we got the job done.”
Long River set the pace while running on the rail with the (8-1) second betting choice Gun Runner running in the two-path a length behind. At the same time Arrogate was about 15-lengths behind and had been forced into a very wide position.
“When he broke that badly, I thought it was all over,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. “That’s the greatest horse I have ever seen run. That’s unbelievable. I can’t believe he won. That is a great horse right there.”
As Long River and Gun Runner held their spots, Smith got Arrogate covered up at the back of the back, improved his position a bit while trying to save some ground. All the while, they were clear to make their move on the outside around the field when Smith was ready.
Baffert had high praise for his jockey, “Mike Smith did a great job. He didn’t panic. He just thought well I’ll jus get him around there and if he gives me something, fine. Mike Smith what a job he did, unbelievable.”
Turning for home, Smith tipped Arrogate to the middle of the track and they began to pass horses in a powerful and determined manner. Gun Runner inherited the lead as Long River tired, but Arrogate had the strong wind to his back coming down the stretch. In the final sixteenth of a mile, Arrogate kept coming and coming and drew off to win by 2 ¼ lengths in a final time of 2:02.53.
With the victory, Arrogate became the all-time leader in earnings of any horse in North America with $17,084,600 passing California Chrome by about $2.5 million. Arrogate accomplished the amazing total in a very short career of eight races. This amazing total was fueled by consecutive victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (winner’s share of $3,300,000), the Pegasus World Cup ($7,000,000), and the Dubai World Cup ($6,000,000). That is a total of $16,300,000 in less than five months. In the world, Arrogate still trails the Japanese star, Orfevre, who earned $19,005,276.
Arrogate became the eleventh American based runner to win the Dubai World Cup in its 22 race history. The son of Unbridled’s Song also joined the elite company of horses that have won the Breeders’ Cup Classic followed by the Dubai World Cup: Cigar won the 1995 Classic and the inaugural World Cup in 1996, Pleasantly Perfect in 2003-04, Invasor did it in 2006-07, and in 2007-08 it was Curlin.
In the end, it was a sweep for American based horses. Arrogate paid $2.10 and $2.10. The $2 exacta with Gun Runner returned $10. Neolithic finished third at odds of 50-1 and completed a $2 trifecta of $110.40.
Baffert, who has trained so many great horses including Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, said, “I told my wife when he turned for home, if he wins that this is the greatest horse that we have seen since Secretariat. Unbelievable.”