Spirit Dancer gave prominent owners Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason and Fred Done a day to remember when powering home to snatch the Group 2 Howden Neom Turf Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Saturday.
The improving seven-year-old went from strength-to-strength last season under the watchful eye of Richard Fahey, booking the first leg of his international voyage by winning the Group 3 Strensall Stakes at York's Ebor Meeting last August. Victory on the Knavesmire would guarantee Spirit Dancer a spot in the Bahrain International trophy at Sakhir later that year and it would be there that he confirmed himself as a horse who could mix it with the very best on the world stage.
A commanding two-and-a-quarter-length victory in Bahrain would set up the next leg of Spirit Dancer's international adventure. A step up to Group 1 level for the first time would see the lightly raced Richard Fahey-trained seven-year-old emerge with plenty of credit as he stayed on nicely into fourth behind Godolphin's Measured Time and Ottoman Fleet in the Jebel Hatta.
Where next many asked? Saudi Arabia would be the next port of call for Sir Alex Ferguson's homebred son of Frankel and although the Howden Neom Turf Cup is only labelled with Group 2 status, it was a race littered with Group 1 quality including Aidan O'Brien's former top-level winner Luxembourg and one-time Epsom Derby candidate The Foxes.
John and Thady Gosden's Jack Darcy set out to make the running of the one-mile two-and-a-half-furlong contest but as Kieran Shoemark kicked the front-runner for home entering the straight, Luxembourg quickly appeared on the scene, seemingly full of running under Ryan Moore. Aidan O'Brien's charge picked up the running with a couple of furlongs left to travel but as one horse began to falter once asked to seal his race, another was only just getting going in the hands of Irish St Leger-winning rider Oisin Orr.
Spirit Dancer soon emerged as a seismic threat to his rivals, with Oisin Orr unleashing the 8/1 chance down the centre of the Saudi track. The pair hit the front with 150 yards to travel and readily drew clear to beat the staying-on Japanese-trained Killer Ability (33/1) by a length.
Calif filled the third spot with Luxembourg, who was sent off the 8/13 favourite, having to settle for fourth.
"It's fantastic," said the ex-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on Racing TV.
"A friend of mine encouraged me to have a stud in Hemel Hempstead and I bought a mare from Andreas Wohler in Germany. The result you've seen today."
