Opinion Poll won the Dubai Gold Cup, which was rerun on Saturday after a horse owned by the stables of Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed was injured in the first race in the United Arab Emirates.
The winner also came from Mohammed’s Godolphin stables, giving him a third victory on the day after Monterosso claimed the $US10 million ($A9.65 million) Dubai World Cup – the world’s richest horse race.
When the Gold Cup was first run, Godolphin’s Fox Hunt – the second favourite at 3-1 – was 300 metres into the 3200-metre race when it tumbled to the ground, throwing jockey Silvestre De Sousa. Fox Hunt briefly tried to get up but fell again and the Gulf News reported the horse was euthanised. De Sousa was unhurt.
Stewards stopped the race – with Makani Bisty in the lead – because there was not enough time to move the horse from the track.
In the rerun of the $US1 million ($A966,000) race, Makani Bisty again took the early lead followed closely by Irish Flame and Mikhail Glinka. The three held the top spots for most of the race but didn’t have enough to finish. First, the Mahmoud al-Zarooni-trained Opinion Poll moved in front and then Joshua Tree and Zanzamar followed.
The six-year-old Opinion Tree held the two off, beating the Marco Botti-trained Joshua Tree with the Mike de Kock-trained Zanzamar a short head further back.
The Dubai Gold Cup was added to the Dubai World Cup racing card for the first time this year.
