Lord North’s Historic Hat-Trick | Sporting Post
Lord North made history by becoming the first horse to win three consecutive overtimes in the DP World sponsored Gr1 Dubai Turf thanks to the bravest performances ridden by Frankie Dettori.
The seven-year-old owned by John and Thady Gosden came to Meydan after a winning warm-up run in last month’s Gr3 Winter Derby at Lingfield Park and has always been prominent under Dettori.
The leading pack chased the early pace behind Roger Varian-trained El Drama and soon traded places as William Buick took over the Nations Pride.
Lord North puts his name in the history books (Image – Chase Liebenberg)
Buick would have rightly thought his momentum was enough, but Dettori had his measure of Lord North, comfortably taking the lead in the final furlong for a game win – and stealing the first run on the quick-closing Japanese-backed pair of Serifos and Danon Beluga.
This win means Dettori cements his record as the most successful jockey of the race with four wins. These have come with Saeed bin Suroor-trained Tamayaz (1997), in addition to three on Lord North.
He also extended his lead as the most successful rider at the Dubai World Cup meeting in its nearly three-decade history, with this being his 23rd win since its inception in 1996.
This is Dettori’s last appearance with Meydan before his retirement.
The jockey, who once again delivered his trademark flying dismount in Dubai, said: “It’s amazing to win once; three times it is unreal. Thady did a great job because he’s a horse who gets sick easily so he doesn’t run that often. The guys got him fit for this race and they did great with him.
“And Lord North himself, what a star. Just being able to get on a board in this beautiful place in Dubai, which has been my home for so many winters, is very special.”
Thady Gosden said: “He showed nice foot movement when he won the race for the first time and last year his preparation wasn’t quite as easy as this year. The boy who rides him every day thought he was in much better shape than last year. Of course, you can’t predict that in case everything goes wrong.
“It was a bit chaotic in the middle of the race and in the corner but he missed any trouble and showed a great foot rotation to get in front. He made a good start from three and the strong pace up front definitely helped; he got a nice move in and he picked up as we know he can.
“It’s fantastic and many thanks to everyone at home on the farm, to the horse and also to Frankie. He is a homebred gelding and it is fantastic for him to come here and win a race of this quality three times at the trot.”
Frankie’s famous departure delights Dubai for the last time (Image – Chase Liebenberg)
Danon Beluga (2nd), jockey Joao Moreira said: “The horse ran a fantastic race. Unfortunately we didn’t have a smooth run at the top of the straight, a horse pulled me a little far away. But the horse has shown he has a lot of quality and he should win his Group 1 very soon.”
Nations Pride (3rd), jockey William Buick said: “Lord North has now won the race three times so all the credit goes to him. We were drawn 14 out of 14, it was never easy but I’m delighted with him and think he’s a decent horse and had a good race tonight.”
Coach Charlie Appleby added: “He put in a solid race after having to work harder after that draw and it probably cost us second place. We wouldn’t have beaten the winner, but hopefully he has a nice summer ahead of him internationally across the 10 stadiums.”
Shirl’s Speight (4th), jockey Antonio Fresu said: “I ran into traffic and was sent further back than I wanted, it was mixed up badly. He finished very well and had to find his way between horses. He was unlucky not to be closer.”
Serifos (5th), jockey Damian Lane said: “He didn’t maintain his sprint finish as well as he can.”
Junko (6th), jockey Maxime Guyon said: “We were way behind. He ran well, but never like he was really at the top.”
Race Director Pierre-Yves Bureau added: “He ran well. They went fast and he found himself quite far behind. He finished very well and it was only the circumstances of the race that caused him to gain so much ground. I think adding him to the trip might be an option to look at, we’ll see. But it is conducted honorably.”
Alfareeq (7th), jockey Dane O’Neill said: “Up to the straight he was in a good position and running well. This time he’s just a better class against him than when he won Super Saturday.”
El Drama (8th), jockey David Egan said: “When he was running well in the Jebel Hatta he was able to get a freebie up front and this time there was more pressure in a much better race. He did his best.”
Real World (9th) jockey Oisin Murphy said: “I had a good position but he didn’t quite finish the way I thought he would. He’s not the same horse.”
Sir Busker (10th), jockey Ben Curtis said: “It wasn’t a bad run at all. Today he is more of a ten-speed horse.”
Order Of Australia (11th) jockey Ryan Moore said: “Didn’t have a great position.”
Glorious Dragon (12th), jockey Neil Callan said: “From the wide draw he had to go back and that was it for him from there. He was very relaxed. He traveled around beautifully. The races over here are different. You have to send them into the race.”
Master Of The Seas (13th), jockey James Doyle said: “His wide draw was one thing but he’s a little bit weak mentally.”
Winning time: 01:47.39 (race record 01:45.52).
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