CAPTAIN STEVE
Courtesy of Dubai Racing Club
2001 - CAPTAIN STEVE
The 2001 Dubai World Cup was perhaps not the strongest renewals in terms of quality but that did not detract from a high-class winner in Captain Steve, who handed trainer Bob Baffert a second victory in the race and rider Jerry Bailey a third.
The winner had landed the Grade One Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park the month before Nad Al Sheba, and boasted a pair of further Grade One triumphs at Hollywood Park as a three-year-old.
It was the Japanese-trained To The Victory who gave Captain Steve most to worry about, eventually finishing second by 3 lengths with the French-trained Hightori a further ½ length back in third.
"It's turned out to be a fantastic week,'' said the silver-haired Baffert. "I felt pretty confident about the horse going into the race, but my hair was turning black down the back side - I wondered what Jerry Bailey was thinking of.
"I was watching the monitor and I couldn't really see if he was having to nudge him along, but then turning for home I could tell the real Captain Steve had showed up after all."
Graham Dench wrote in the Racing Post: "The Stars and Stripes boomed out over Nad Al Sheba racecourse for the third time in the short history of the Dubai World Cup as Captain Steve won the world's richest race in the manner his trainer Bob Baffert had predicted.
"Before a multi-national crowd of more than 50,000, the American colt crushed his 11 rivals with a power-packed display which leaves him firmly on course for a rematch with Tiznow in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont Park.
"Baffert punched the air as Captain Steve passed the post to secure first prize in the $6m contest and was soon embraced by Sheikh Mohammed, the Godolphin founder and brains behind the event."
Previous Winners
Click on the horse names below to read about previous winners.