Grey with lightning in the desert

24 March 2017 - 09:46 By Mike Moon
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SILVER STREAK: Arrogate, winner of the world's richest race, the $12-million Pegasus World Cup, is quoted at 4-10 for tomorrow's Dubai showpiece.
SILVER STREAK: Arrogate, winner of the world's richest race, the $12-million Pegasus World Cup, is quoted at 4-10 for tomorrow's Dubai showpiece.
Image: DUBAI RACING CLUB

Seven months ago, barely anyone in racing had heard the name Arrogate.

Now, just three runs later, the grey colt is the highest-ranked thoroughbred in the world and is odds-on favourite for tomorrow's $10-million Dubai World Cup.

In April last year, Arrogate made his debut in a sprint race at Los Alamitos in California. He started as favourite - thanks to being trained by the legendary Bob Baffert and having been bought on auction for a chunky $560000 by Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah, one of the world's biggest owners.

But punters lost their tom; he finished third.

Baffert figured the son of Unbridled's Song needed more ground to realise the potential he showed in gallops back at home, so he stuck him in a 1700m race at Santa Anita.

The colt led from the get-go and won easily, as he did in his next two races over the same trip.

Taking a mighty plunge, the trainer entered the up-and-coming three-year-old in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Regular stable jockey Rafael Bejarano elected to ride another of Baffert's runners in the race. Wrong. Veteran jockey Mike Smith picked up the ride on the youngster.

The Saratoga track record for 2000m, which had stood for 37 years, was blown away as Arrogate strolled in by 13.5 lengths.

"You're always hoping that they're that good," said Baffert. "I knew he was good, but I didn't know he was really, really that kind of good."

What happened next really, really amazed everyone.

Arrogate took on the great California Chrome, winner of the 2016 Dubai World Cup, in the Breeders' Cup Classic - arguably the US's premier horse race. It was a nail-biting, nose-to-nose battle down the stretch at Santa Anita, but favourite "Chromie" conceded in the final strides.

The brand-new $12-million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, which supplanted the Dubai World Cup as the world's richest race, saw a rematch, but this time California Chrome suffered an injury in running and Arrogate cruised to an easy win.

These three victories had statisticians recalibrating furiously and coming up with a rating of 130 for Arrogate. This is seriously high, especially when you consider that the mighty Frankel, trained in the UK, only reached 134 after 14 straight wins.

Incidentally, Frankel also raced in the pale green, pink and white silks of Prince Khalid.

In the barrier draw for tomorrow's big race at Meydan, the grey bomber pulled gate No9 out of 14.

There are several bolters in the field, so a fast pace is a given and the best horses should be running on at the finish.

South Africans will be hoping one of those is Mubtaahij, trained by Mike de Kock. A distant second to California Chrome in last year's showdown in the desert, Mubtaahij drew 14 out of 14 and will be relying on the wiles of Belgian pilot Christophe Soumillon to find a decent travelling slot ahead of the mad dash down the straight.

World Cup night is always magnificent entertainment and this year's card features runners from 13 nations battling it out for $30-million in prize money in nine contests.

De Kock's other runner on the night is Fawree in the UAE Derby. This crazy critter has recently had his head sorted out by South African horse whisperer Malan du Toit to ensure he doesn't go bananas and chuck off rider Bernard Fayd'Herbe, as he did last time he went to the races.

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