Heart's Cry and Christophe Lemaire win the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Heart's Cry, partnered by Christophe Lemaire and trained by Kojiro Hashiguchi, gave Japan its second win of the Dubai World Cup meeting, leading all the way to capture the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-I) over 2,400 meters (about 1 1/2 miles) on the Nad Al Sheba turf Saturday night. Britain's 8-year-old Collier Hill, Dean McKeown up, raced up with the pace and finished 4 1/4 lengths back in second, while Falstaff, trained by Mike de Kock and ridden by Kevin Shea, was third, 1 1/4 lengths behind the runner-up. Ed Dunlop's Ouija Board, the mount of Kieren Fallon, made progress into the straight to finish fourth, nine lengths behind the winner. "Heart's Cry seemed to be very relaxed and in good condition," Lemaire said. "It has been three months since last race, but he gets stronger. Now, he can go and run everywhere in the world."The winner, a Japanese-bred 5-year-old son of Sunday Silence, won the Arima Kinen (Jpn-I) at Nakayama Dec. 25. The victory, worth $3 million to owner Shadai Race Horse Co. Ltd., was Heart Cry's fifth in 17 lifetime starts and zoomed his earnings to $7,903,691."I am really excited," Hashiguchi said. "Heart's Cry was very good, so I brought him to Dubai. If I had no confidence, I would not have come here. In last year's the Arima Kinen, one of the biggest races in Japan, he was very strong. But now, he is stronger than then. We will look to going for the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes next (Eng-I)."Alexander Goldrun (IRE) ran fifth, followed by Alayan (IRE), Layman (USA), Norse Dancer (IRE), Mustanfar (USA), Punch Punch (BRZ), Oracle West (SAF), Relaxed Gesture (IRE), Greys Inn (USA), and Shanty Star (IRE). The time was 2:31.89.
