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Arrogate comes from last place to win $10M Dubai World Cup by over two lengths

Mike Smith riding Arrogate celebrates winning the Dubai World Cup: Getty
Mike Smith riding Arrogate celebrates winning the Dubai World Cup: Getty

Arrogate showed his class again in the Dubai World Cup as he came from last place after a delay out of the stalls to win by an impressive 2 1/4 lengths on Saturday.

With the win, four-year-old Arrogate became the highest-earning racehorse ever, surpassing California Chrome, winner of the same race last year. Arrogate has grossed $17,084,600 for winning seven races out of eight in his career.

In the second richest horse race in the world at $10 million, run over dirt and 2,000 meters at Meydan Racecourse, Arrogate produced a powerful finish under jockey Mike Smith to beat Gun Runner and Neolithic in a 1-2-3 for the U.S.

The winning time was 2 minutes, 2.15 seconds - slower than the course record set by Chrome last year - but understandable given the soft conditions after a second straight day of rain and thunderstorms in Dubai.

Arrogate gave trainer Bob Baffert his third Dubai World Cup after Silver Charm (1998), and Captain Steve (2001).

Vivlos of Japan, trained by Yasuo Tomomichi and ridden by Joao Moreira, won the Dubai Turf over 1,800 meters, one of the two races on the card offering $6 million prize money. Moreira left it late to break from the outside and catch Heshem and Godolphin's Ribchester over the last 100 meters.

Ribchester, under William Buick, looked solid until caught by Heshem with less than 100 meters to go. Both were outsprinted by Vivlos to give Japan a second win in the race in two years. Real Steel, who was a non-runner this year, had won in 2016.

The other $6 million race, the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic over 2,410 meters, was claimed comfortably by Godolphin-owned and John Gosden-trained Jack Hobbs.

In a race in which only seven went to the post, Jack Hobbs was bunched up with three others but jockey William Buick forced a powerful finish in which Jack Hobbs surged from 300 meters out to beat Seventh Heaven and Postponed, the defending champion.

Belgian jockey Christophe Soumillon was a back-to-back winner, making a very late charge on Vazirabad to win the 3,200-meter Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup, followed by a photo-finish in the UAE Derby when he powered Godolphin's Thunder Snow to finish ahead by a nose over Epicharis.