Click HERE to read the full piece and view an emotional Ajtebi in the GN video.

Dubai Millennium made all the running in a course record time, fulfilling the goal of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, winning the millenial celebration of the Dubai World Cup.  The son of Seeking the Gold won nine of ten lifetime starts, earning over $4.4 million, and was a picture of perfection in two Nad Al Sheba starts.  In the fourteen runnings of the world’s richest race, Dubai Millennium’s performance towers over all others.  He died in 2001 while standing at stud, having covered about a dozen mares.

And suddenly, the son of Camden Park you are riding kicks into a previously unknown gear, and just as you re-engage, the saddle slips, your balance is off, and 15 world class racehorses are perilously close. 

What do you do?  Dig in and propel your longshot mount to a monumental victory all while your life, essentially, hangs in a perilous imbalance.  South African jockey Anton Marcus lived this wild ride aboard Jay Peg in the 2008 Dubai Duty Free (G1).

What is often lost in the shuffle of a dramatic, near-catastrophic race is the fact that Jay Peg ran the fastest Dubai Duty Free in history, establishing a course record by more than a second.  He did this by setting fast fractions early, losing the lead with 350 meters to run, dropping behind almost two lengths, then re-rallied passing one of the world’s top fillies at the time, Darjina.  It didn’t hurt Jay Peg’s backers that his amazing re-rally was done at 35-1 odds in the international commingled pool.  The 2008 Dubai Duty Free had a little bit of everything, which made it even more memorable than the 2004 version, a deadheat between Right Approach and Paolini.

These two races may have been a tipping point in promoting the expansion of the Carnival to make it truly international.  In the two seasons since, horses from the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, South Africa, and Mauritius have competed for the big prizes, and this list is hardly comprehensive.  The quality of the race video below is not the greatest - but the performances speak for themselves.

Earlier on the card, Japan’s Stay Gold bested Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Fantastic Light and Germany’s Silvano to take the Dubai Sheema Classic and continue the growing theme of the international nature of Dubai racing.

#10 – Ajtebi scores a homegrown double
The 2009 Dubai Duty Free and Dubai Sheema Classic could not have been more different races.  In the end, the same jockey rode both winners as former camel jockey Ahmed Ajtebi became the first native Emirati to ride a winner on World Cup night.  Just minutes after making all the running in a Duty Free blowout aboard Gladiatorus, Ajtebi flew home over the outside of the Sheema Classic field with Eastern Anthem to land consecutive $5 million races, this one, by a nose.

#9 – Asiatic Boy becomes first winner of the UAE Triple Crown
He arrived from Argentina with a win and a placing from two lifetime starts, when he left the Emirates, Asiatic Boy had his name in the record books.  A Mike de Kock trainee, Asiatic Boy’s 2007 campaign included a conditions event win before landing the triumphant trio of sophomore events, the UAE 2000 Guineas, the Al Bastakiya, and the UAE Derby (video posted below).

#8 – Paolini and Right Approach provide a Duty Free deadheat
The judged stewed over the photograph of the 2004 Dubai Duty Free finish  for what seemed like an eternity, but in the end, could not separate Paolini and Right Approach in a ding-dong stretch duel that saw both horses fly home over the field from the rear.  While they exchanged bumps, no action was taken and the race stands as the only heater in the history of the World Cup meeting.

#7 – Curlin wins at the Dubai International Racing Carnival
This decade saw the growth of the DIRC into a top class race meeting where Dubai World Cup meeting contenders prepped.  Prior to Curlin’s demolition of the 2008 Dubai World Cup, trainer Steve Asmussen sent the son of Smart Strike to get a feel for the local conditions, knowing that his performances tended to improve when making a second trip over a course.  His win in an otherwise ordinary race gave the Carnival an added level of credibility on the global stage as an American Horse of the Year made his first start of a multiple graded stakes winning campaign amidst the dunes of Dubai.

#6 – Madjani makes it three-in-a-row
The purebred Arabian won three consecutive Dubai Kahayla Classics beginning in 2005, wholeheartedly dominating the breed for the decade.  His dominance over his competition, a fiercely contested group, especially in the UAE, was respected by the Nad Al Sheba crowd when, in 2008, the 8-year-old failed to completed an unprecedented fourth win in the race.  Mizzna, a mare, took a two length win but when Madjani returned to the walking ring to be unsaddled, the crowd obliged with an applause deserving a champion.

Ridden by Rajiv Maragh, Honour Devil raced in mid-pack through the first five furlongs, dropped back leaving the backstretch, then rallied between horses and then along the rail in the homestretch to grab the place. 

Now in the care of Kiaran McLaughlin, Honour Devil was medicated with Lasix for the first time.  Provided he comes out of the race in fine fettle, the weak American handicap division could pose a target for the son of Honour and Glory.

Click HERE for the story.