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American champion Arrogate has backed up his win at the richest race in the world in January with a win on Saturday in the Dubai World Cup, which just happens to be the second richest race in the world.
The US$10 million race in the UAE had carried the largest purse on the planet for many years before the introduction of the Pegasus World Cup just this year, worth US$12 million.
Four-year-old colt Arrogate won the Pegasus earlier in the year, setting a ridiculous new track record on his way to a five-length victory.
Now, barely two months later, Arrogate has done it again, this time just a couple of million dollars short in the pocket.
Despite the dirt track expected to be an issue thanks to some less-than-ideal conditions leading into the race, the colt still found a way to get the job done, although it wasn’t easy.
He jumped out of the gates very late and was instantly caught back in traffic, sitting dead last in the early goings as 51-year-old veteran jockey Mike Smith fought to position him in the pack.
Once the horse was settled it was a matter of timing. Smith took him out wide on the track to find galloping room on the final stretch, allowing Arrogate to blitz through the pack.
Once he got neck and neck with leader Gun Runner, it was all over, driving home the final 200 metres to win by a touch over two lengths.
“When he missed the break, I gave him no chance at all. I thought that was it and I was mad at myself for bringing him here. That’s the greatest I’ve ever seen. That’s unbelievable. That is a great horse right there,” said trainer Bob Baffert.
Having recently been ranked the best racehorse in the world for 2016, the four-year-old has certainly lived up to the title in the new year.
The win at Dubai takes his career prize money to an amazing US$17 million, not only a North American record, but a feat made all the more ridiculous by the fact he only ran his first race in April of last year.
A disappointing first-up third place finish at Los Alamitos has since been forgotten, with the Bob Baffert-trained colt now on a seven-race winning streak since.
The aforementioned wins at Pegasus and Dubai alone have earned him a whopping US$7 million and US$6 million respectively.
Arrogate is expected to be spelled through the northern summer, with a likely return in August on the cards.
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