2019 Dubai World Cup Past Performances
The 2019 Dubai World Cup was a horse race run at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on 30 March 2019. It was the 24th running of the race. The total prize money for the race was US$12 million, with the winner receiving $7.2 million. This was an increase of $2 million on the previous year, making it the world's richest horse race in 2019. Dubai World Cup 2019: Entries & Odds. Thunder Snow will attempt to make history as the first two-time Dubai World Cup hero in the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday, March 30. Among his American-based rivals are Seeking the Soul, Audible, and Gunnevera - the respective runner-up, fifth, and sixth in the Pegasus World.
| Dubai World Cup | |
| Location | Meydan Racecourse Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|
| Date | 30 March 2019 |
| Distance | 2,000 metres (about 10 furlongs) |
| Winning horse | Thunder Snow |
| Winning time | 2:03.87 |
| Jockey | Christophe Soumillon |
| Trainer | Saeed bin Suroor |
| Owner | Godolphin |
| Conditions | Fast |
| Surface | Dirt |
2021(No race in 2020) → | |
The 2019 Dubai World Cup was a horse race run at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on 30 March 2019. It was the 24th running of the race. The total prize money for the race was US$12 million, with the winner receiving $7.2 million. This was an increase of $2 million on the previous year, making it the world's richest horse race in 2019.[1][2]
The race was won for the second year running by Thunder Snow, who became the first horse to win the Dubai World Cup twice.[3]
Entries[edit]
A total of 13 horses were entered for the race, including Godolphin's defending champion Thunder Snow, who was bidding to become the first horse to win the race for a second time. Al Maktoum Challenge winners North America (Rounds 1 and 2) and Capezzano (Round 3) headed a strong local challenge from the United Arab Emirates, which also included Axelrod, Gronkowski and New Trails. The United States was also well represented with Pegasus World Cup runner-up Seeking The Soul, Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Gunnevera, along with Audible, Pavel and Yoshida. The field was completed by Japanese challenger K T Brave and the Korean-trained Dolkong.[4]
Road to Meydan[edit]
The contenders' results in key races during the build-up to the Dubai World Cup.
- 3 November 2018: Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
- Seeking The Soul (2nd)
- 3 November 2018: Breeders' Cup Classic
- Gunnevera (2nd), Thunder Snow (3rd), Yoshida (4th), Axelrod (9th), Pavel (10th)
- 23 November 2018: Clark Handicap
- Seeking The Soul (3rd)
- 2 December 2018: Champions Cup
- K T Brave (11th), Pavel (15th)
- 26 December 2018: Malibu Stakes
- Axelrod (4th)
- 10 January 2019: Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 1
- North America (Won), Dolkong (6th)
- 26 January 2019: Pegasus World Cup Turf
- Yoshida (6th)
- 26 January 2019: Pegasus World Cup
- Seeking The Soul (2nd), Audible (5th), Gunnevera (6th)
- 7 February 2019: Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 2
- North America (Won), New Trails (2nd)
- 28 February 2019: Curlin Handicap
- Dolkong (Won)
- 9 March 2019: Burj Nahaar
- Axelrod (10th)
- 9 March 2019: Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 3
- Capezzano (Won), Thunder Snow (2nd), Dolkong (3rd), New Trails (4th), Gronkowski (5th)
Dubai World Cup Past Performances
Race card[edit]
The draw for the race was made on 27 March.[5][6]
K T Brave was later withdrawn, reducing the field to 12.[7]
| No. | Draw | Horse | Weight (kg) | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Gunnevera(USA) | 57.0 | Emisael Jaramillo | Antonio Sano (USA) | Salomón Del Valle |
| 2 | 2 | Capezzano (USA) | 57.0 | Mickael Barzalona | Salem bin Ghadayer (UAE) | Sultan Ali |
| 3 | 3 | North America (GB) | 57.0 | Richard Mullen | Satish Seemar (UAE) | Ramzan Kadyrov |
| 4 | 4 | Audible (USA) | 57.0 | Flavien Prat | Todd Pletcher(USA) | WinStar Farm, China Horse Club et al. |
| 5 | 5 | Seeking The Soul (USA) | 57.0 | Mike E. Smith | Dallas Stewart(USA) | Charles E. Fipke |
| 6 | 6 | Pavel (USA) | 57.0 | Joel Rosario | Doug O'Neill(USA) | Reddam Racing LLC |
| 7 | 7 | Gronkowski(USA) | 57.0 | Oisin Murphy | Salem bin Ghadayer (UAE) | Phoenix Thoroughbred III Ltd |
| 8 | 8 | Axelrod (USA) | 57.0 | Royston Ffrench | Salem bin Ghadayer (UAE) | Phoenix Thoroughbred III Ltd & Slam Dunk Racing |
| 9 | 9 | New Trails (USA) | 57.0 | Connor Beasley | Ahmad bin Harmash (UAE) | Hamdan Sultan Ali Alsabousi |
| 10 | 10 | Yoshida (JPN) | 57.0 | José Ortiz | Bill Mott(USA) | China Horse Club, WinStar Farm et al. |
| NR | NR | K T Brave (JPN) | 57.0 | João Moreira | Haruki Sugiyama (JPN) | Kazuyoshi Takimoto |
| 12 | 12 | Thunder Snow(IRE) | 57.0 | Christophe Soumillon | Saeed bin Suroor(GB) | Godolphin |
| 13 | 13 | Dolkong (USA) | 57.0 | Olivier Doleuze | Simon Foster (KOR) | Lee Tae In |
Race[edit]
Summary[edit]
North America was fastest out of the gates and took an early lead, with defending champion Thunder Snow breaking well from the second widest draw to move in behind the leader, alongside Capezzano, who was pulling hard on the inside. As the horses settled, Gronkowski moved through to challenge North America for the lead, with the leaders closely followed by Thunder Snow, Capezzano and New Trails. The positions at the front of the race remained unchanged until the final bend, where Capezzano and New Trails quickly faded. Into the home straight, North America started to drop back as Thunder Snow challenged Gronkowski for the lead. The two horses, now clear of the rest of the field, battled all the way to the line, with Thunder Snow getting up to win by a nose in a photo finish, becoming the first horse to win two Dubai World Cups. Gunnevera ran on from the back to take third place, with Pavel staying on to finish fourth.[8][9]
Full result[edit]
| Position | Margin | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Prize |
| 1 | Thunder Snow | Christophe Soumillon | Saeed bin Suroor | $7,200,000 | |
| 2 | nose | Gronkowski | Oisin Murphy | Salem bin Ghadayer | $2,400,000 |
| 3 | 2¾ | Gunnevera | Emisael Jaramillo | Antonio Sano | $1,200,000 |
| 4 | ½ | Pavel | Joel Rosario | Doug O'Neill | $600,000 |
| 5 | short head | Audible | Flavien Prat | Todd Pletcher | $360,000 |
| 6 | 1¾ | Yoshida | José Ortiz | Bill Mott | $240,000 |
| 7 | 2½ | North America | Richard Mullen | Satish Seemar | |
| 8 | head | Seeking The Soul | Mike E. Smith | Dallas Stewart | |
| 9 | neck | Axelrod | Royston Ffrench | Salem bin Ghadayer | |
| 10 | 1¼ | New Trails | Connor Beasley | Ahmad bin Harmash | |
| 11 | 6 | Dolkong | Olivier Doleuze | Simon Foster | |
| 12 | 17 | Capezzano | Mickael Barzalona | Salem bin Ghadayer |
References[edit]
- ^'Dubai World Cup Purse Raised to $12 Million for 2019'. BloodHorse. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^'Dubai World Cup: The richest race day returns with $35 million prize purse'. CNN. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^'Thunder Snow makes history as the only horse to win Dubai World Cup twice'. Racing Post. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^'Cards: Meydan 30 MAR 2019 1m2f Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (Group 1) (Dirt)'. Racing Post. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^'Thunder Snow gets Gate 12 draw for Dubai World Cup title defence'. The National. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^'Racecard / Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline'. Emirates Racing Authority. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^'Dubai World Cup runners: field down to 12 horses after K T Brave withdraws'. The National. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^'Thunder Snow wins $12m Dubai World Cup'. Gulf News. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^'Thunder Snow wins 2019 Dubai World Cup in thrilling photo finish'. The National. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
External links[edit]
2019 Dubai World Cup Past Performances
The fifth annual Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park is the first marquee race of the 2021 calendar, bringing together 12 veteran horses to compete for a total purse of $3 million. Formerly known as the Donn Handicap, the Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup Invitational was rebranded in 2017 and has since been won by a quartet of highly accomplished runners: Arrogate (2017), Gun Runner (2018), City of Light (2019), and Mucho Gusto (2020).
Pegasus World Cup Past Performances
The GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, run on the dirt at 1 1/8 miles, offers a $3-million total purse. The GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, run on the turf at 1 3/16 miles, offers a $1-million purse. 1/ST entirely provides the $4-million total purse contribution.
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This year’s event will provide opportunities in North American Thoroughbred racing for horse owners by showcasing their equine athletes competing free of medications on race day while providing the winner of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational with an automatic entry into the 2021 $20-million Saudi Cup.
In 2019, the purse was cut to $7 million and the field lost depth. It was very strong at the top with a pair of Breeders’ Cup winners, Accelerate and City of Light, but the full field had 17 fewer graded-stakes victories than the year before.
Last year, the purse was cut to $3 million and the quality of the field diminished. It already was not quite as strong as years past before the late scratches of Omaha Beach and Spun to Run, which devastated the field. Higher Power and Seeking the Soul were the only Grade 1 winners in the field, and the winner of the race, Mucho Gusto, had not won a race at the Grade 1 or 2 level heading into the Pegasus.
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The 2021 Pegasus has followed a similar pattern to last year. The prospective field initially looked strong with Tiz the Law, Charlatan, Maxfield and Mucho Gusto under consideration. They all have defected, leaving this year’s Pegasus as a solid but unspectacular group.
Pegasus Entries Past Performances
Knicks Go
He will attempt to follow in the footsteps of 2019 Pegasus World Cup winner City of Light, as this son of Paynter comes out of a win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (Grade 1) in November. He was unbeaten in three starts in 2020, and was also a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, proving his class was always there. This will be his first start at Gulfstream Park, but the $1.3 million earner should find the racing surface and style ideal.
Tax
A top sophomore of 2019, Tax was off from May until December, when he scored in the local prep race for the Pegasus World Cup, the Harlan’s Holiday. The son of Arch won by over four lengths, defeating several other Pegasus contenders. He has just under $1 million in earnings.
True Timber
True Timber is coming off an upset win in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. He had been knocking on the door, with multiple Grade 1 placings before his big win. He tried the Pegasus World Cup in 2019 – seventh – and 2020 – eighth – but is doing far better now than he ever was before. The son of Mineshaft has already earned $1.2 million, and has been top three in 19 of 29 starts lifetime.
Mucho Gusto
Mucho Gusto is the defending champion of the Pegasus World Cup. The son of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man has won six of 13 lifetime starts and has earnings of just under $4 million to his name. He was the second choice last year when he won under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., strolling away 4 1/2 lengths in front. He finished fourth in his comeback race, the Grade 2 San Antonio on December 26.
Jesus’ Team
This horse went from a $32,000 claimer to Grade 1 placed in just seven months. The son of Tapiture broke his maiden on this Gulfstream Park track, which he loves, and went on to run fourth in the TVG.com Haskell (Grade 1) and second in the TVG.com Pegasus at Monmouth Park. He was third in the Preakness Stakes (Grade 1), beaten by top horses Swiss Skydiver and Authentic. He ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) before scoring in the Claiming Crown Jewel over this course on December 5.
Code of Honor
A Grade 2 winner over this track as a three-year-old, Code of Honor went on to be placed second in the Kentucky Derby and won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1). He struggled last year with just one Grade 3 victory, but should rebound over this track.
Kiss Today Goodbye
He was the surprise winner of the Grade 2 San Antonio at Santa Anita Park over Pegasus World Cup defending champion Mucho Gusto. That was his second win in a row; he has always been quick but improved coming off the grass last fall.
Mr Freeze
A Grade 2 winner at Keeneland in the fall, Mr Freeze was second in this race last year, and went on to be an impressive Grade 2 winner here. He likes the course and the distance.
Sharp Samurai
A former turf star, this guy has found new life on the dirt. He was third in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (Grade 1) and second in the TVG Pacific Classic (G1). He rarely wins – he hasn’t since 2018 – but has only run worse than third once in well over a year.
Sleepy Eyes Todd
This popular gray runner has been impressive of late, winning two in a row including a big race on the Breeders’ Cup undercard. He took the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in August over this same distance.
Harper’s First Ride
The Maryland-based runner has won two listed stakes races in a row, and four of his last five starts. His speed figures contend with this group.
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