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Sir Alex Ferguson, the former boss of Manchester United, celebrated a momentous victory in the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy. This marked his first-ever success in the prestigious race. Jockey Oisin Orr exhibited remarkable skill as he expertly manoeuvred Spirit Dancer around a cluster of horses. With precision and finesse, Orr guided Spirit Dancer to cross the finish line first in the thrilling 2000m turf contest held at Manama on Friday.
The winner of the Group Three Strensall Stakes at York in August was the 6YO Frankel gelding, trained by Richard Fahey. During the race, he mostly ran at the back of the field of 14 and was asked to quicken by Orr when making the turn.
Point Lonsdale, trained by Aidan O’Brien, led the pack into the straight along the rail, hoping to secure his first win since May's Huxley Stakes at Chester. However, with a group applying pressure simultaneously, he eventually yielded.
Orr made an early push for glory with Spirit Dancer, swinging him six-wide straightening up and cutting right soon after. He went level with Point Lonsdale, ridden by Ryan Moore, with a little over 200m left and kicked clear comfortably to win by two and a quarter lengths. John and Thady Gosden’s Shadwell-owned Israr stole second place by a head, relegating Point Lonsdale to third.
“That is the best ever, without doubt. Against all the pedigrees and form of all the other horses – that’s fantastic, I couldn’t believe it,” Ferguson told RacingTV.
“Richard said to leave it to the jockey, he’ll be all right. I was terrified looking at all the other people involved in this race. Godolphin had five horses in it. That was great, I’m so proud.
“I said to the jockey ‘remember, he’s a Frankel’.”
Asked what the victory meant to him, Fahey joked, “$1 million!”
He then added, “I’m on cloud nine, it's fantastic.
“It was in my mind all year to come here, but I thought it would be an easier race. I thought he'd win but not beat the field he did today.
“It's just a surreal moment, a moment I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Bahrain has been very good to us and I thought it was fantastic when Sir Alex said that he'd definitely come.”