Review: Gosden's Lord North Claims Gr.1 Dubai Turf Feature

At 1,800 meters, the Dubai Turf was right in the wheelhouse for the 5YO son of Dubawi. 

Frankie Dettori held Lord North near the back of a 12-horse field, his mount rating perfectly while travelling very smoothly through this one-turn contest. Dettori pulled out past the 600-meter mark, coming toward the end of the turn, following Al Suhail’s move, and as Al Suhail, who would finish last as the second choice, began struggling, Lord North hit his best stride. At the 300-meter mark, Lord North had run up alongside the leaders and he quickly disposed of them, going on to a three-length win and giving trainer John Gosden his first win in a race formerly known as the Dubai Duty-Free.

And although the stands might not have been filled as usual at Meydan, that didn’t stop Frankie Dettori from making his traditional flying dismount, in a perfect finish to the race. Dettori, who was recording his second victory in the race that he won last in 1997 with Tamayaz.

“I had plenty of horse. He stays really well, so I kicked with him earlier,” Dettori said.

Vin De Garde ran on well from mid-pack to finish third, one length in front of Felix. Lord Glitters, a crowd favourite for this win, never factored and finished sixth, while the Marco Botti-trained Felix finished an excellent third.

It was an impressive reappearance by the 2020 Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner at Royal Ascot and Thady Gosden, who has just entered a training partnership with his father John, said: "We were always hoping he would run well as he was in brilliant form out here. But he definitely put that race to bed very well from pretty far back. We will take him home now and then maybe give him a break and target the race he won last year at Ascot."