Dubai World Cup: Equinox wins Sheema Classic in style

Towards the end of an extraordinary performance by Equinox, Christophe Lemaire had the luxury of such a massive lead that just as Usain Bolt would do in his heydays, he took his eyes off and needed to turn his head nearly 180 degrees to locate his rivals.

The Japanese Horse of the Year, travelling outside his country for the first time, put on quite a show. If Lemaire had not eased off towards the end, the winning margin would have been a lot larger than the eventual 3.5 lengths.

Even though never challenged, the son of Kitasan Black took nearly a second off the course record as he finished the 2,410 meters demolition job in 2 minutes 25.65 seconds.

It was an emotional win for the French jockey, whose last Sheema Classic success was way back in 2006.

“I rode the best horse, I had no fear to set the pace,” said Lemaire, explaining why he decided to jostle into the lead even before reaching the first turn and dictating the pace of the race.

“It’s been a long time since I won the Sheema Classic. Last time was with Heart’s Cry. He passed away two weeks ago (at age 20 on March 9 in Japan), so I am very grateful to this horse. Today’s win was a tribute to Heart’s Cry.

“Race after race, he’s going up the rankings of the horses I have ridden. It was a great, great performance against these kind of horses at the top level. I couldn’t be happier.”

Westover, trained by Ralph Beckett, and Zagrey, trained by Yann Barberot, followed Equinox to the finishing tape.

A proud trainer, Tetsuya Kimura added: “Much like he did last year, he went straight to the lead so that got me a bit worried at the start, but the horse travelled fine and everything went well.

“We didn’t have a plan really and Christophe is just a very good jockey who knows how to ride this horse very well. He did a fantastic job in the saddle and Equinox is such a fine horse that he knows how to get the job done.

3. Zagrey (Yann Barberott) Christophe Soumillon