ALMUTAWAKEL
©Trevor Jones
1999 - ALMUTAWAKEL
The 1998 victor Silver Charm attempted to become the first dual winner of the Dubai World Cup but he finished a well-beaten sixth of the eight runners with Almutawakel, one of four starters for Godolphin's trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, putting up a career-best performance.
The Machiavellian colt, who was bred by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, had won the 1998 Group One Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly but faced a formidable set of opponents. His stable-companions were Derby winner High-Rise, Derby Italiano winner Central Park and the incomparable Daylami, already successful in top-grade races in France, England and America, and set to go on to four further championship race successes, culminating in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
But this was to be Almutawakel's day and the four-year-old held on under Richard Hills by ¾ length from Malek - incredibly a third Dubai World Cup runner-up for US handler Richard Mandella.
Tim Richards wrote in the Horse & Hound: "In a year when Godolphin threatens to break down barriers far and wide, Almutawakel could not have been a more appropriate standard-bearer.
"After he had outrun Malek, the least fancied of the American runners, in Sunday's $5 million Dubai World Cup, Almutawakel and his rider Richard Hills were greeted by unprecedented scenes from the 32,000 crowd.
"The chanting, clapping Dubaians made for a moving scene. They acknowledged an undeterred Almutawakel and his partner Richard Hills, who could not stop himself from punching the air, on their lap of honour under a sea of photographers in the parade ring."
Jay Hovdey of the Daily Racing Form stated: "Depending on your inflection, Malek means 'angel' or 'king'. Almutawakel, who beat Malek in the $5 million Dubai World Cup by ¾ length, translates loosely as a heavenward exhortation., something along the lines of a 'let's go' cheer before a righteous quest.
"As far as Richard Mandella is concerned, it might as well mean 'Oh no not again,' which feels the same in any language."
Richard Edmondson of The Independent wrote: "He was a mouthful for the crowd and more than a handful for his rivals at Nad Al Sheba last night. Almutawakel won the world's richest race, the Dubai World Cup, for Richard Hills, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and his Godolphin trainers. He looks destined for a stunning campaign."