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| Staff Writer |
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The recently concluded US$2m Howden Neom Turf Cup witnessed another victory for Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary former Manchester United Manager. His homebred Spirit Dancer emerged victorious in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The race was paced up by British raiders Jack Darcy and Luxembourg, which allowed Spirit Dancer, ridden by Oisin Orr, to stay relaxed in the mid-division.
As they reached the final bend, Orr pulled out Spirit Dancer, and they surged ahead on the straight. Although Luxembourg held the advantage with 200m to go, Spirit Dancer continued to accelerate and won the race comfortably by a length. Japanese raider Killer Ability finished second, followed by Calif and Luxembourg.
Spirit Dancer, owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason, and Peter Done, had earlier won the Bahrain International Trophy in November. It took the horse only 2:07.10 to win the Howden Neom Turf Cup and bring the triumphant owners into another winner's enclosure in the Middle East.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who is also the breeder and co-owner of Spirit Dancer, expressed his delight at the win. He praised the performance of the horse, jockey, and trainer Richard Fahey, who had earlier pointed out that Spirit Dancer had not raced much. Ferguson also acknowledged the success of his stud in Hemel Hampstead, which he had taken a gamble on a few years ago.
"That puts his win in Bahrain in perspective. Richard gave us confidence but it is one of these things, you are never too confident."
Ged Mason, co-owner, "It’s like a dream, I have to pinch myself. For Richard to produce him and win as easy as he did, he was like a steam engine. Sir Alex had a dream this morning and dreamt he’d win.
Peter Done, co-owner, "It’s absolutely amazing. Super, super trainer. All credit to him and Oisin with a terrific ride. We bought into him as a 2-year-old. If Sir Alex asks do you want a share, what do you say? We turned down a big offer after Bahrain, we all turned it down and what a great decision."
Richard Fahey, trainer. "We’ll send him back to Dubai. We’ll see how he is in the morning but it’s hard not to go back to Dubai. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t line up in something on World Cup night.
"Always in my mind I wanted to stretch out to a mile and a half [2400m] but I don’t want to make any decisions tonight. Any horse that goes on the international scene, becomes a people’s horse, and he’s got a huge fan base - the lad that has a share in him has something to do with that!
"As trainers we don’t really understand what it means to people and to see the enjoyment gives me huge pride. He gets his head down and gallops to the line."