By Marcus Townend -
Jockey Edwin Maldonado conjured a massive closing run on Two Rivers Over to pull off a surprise win in the $1million Godolphin Mile.
The four-year-old, trained in the US by Doug O’Neill, wore down pacesetting Walk Of Stars, who hugged the inside rail, with last year’s winner Isolate a game third.
At the top of the home straight it looked like the front-runners had poached a decisive advantage but in the final furlong they were both treading water.
Two Rivers Over is sired by Shadwell Stud-owned 2015 Godolphin Mile winner Tamarkuz and continued O’Neill’s excellent record in the meeting. The US handler was winning the race for the second time having saddled Spring At Last to take the 2007 renewal.
The Bhupat Seemar trainee Walk Of Stars had made the most of his inside draw under multiple champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea as he was shadowed by Isolate as very few of the runners got into the race.
The big disappointment was US-trained favourite Saudi Crown. The Brad Cox-trained four-year-old had only wilted in the closing stages when third to Senor Buscador in the Saudi Cup over a furlong further and a big run had been expected dropping back in distance.
However, breaking from a wide draw in stall nine, he could never get close to the lead in the way he likes to dominate his races and jockey Florent Geroux was already sending out distress signals before the home turn as he dropped away."I am extremely happy about how it’s worked out for us and it’s amazing that we have won the Godolphin Mile in the presence of HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum," said Leandro Mora, who supervises trainer Doug O'Neill's travelling challenge in the United Arab Emirates.
"I actually asked Edwin to stay closer to the pace but it did not work out that way. He knew he was in a little bit of trouble but the horse responded for him.”
Maldonado has known plenty of injury ups and downs during his career in Southern California and produced a ride of rare quality here.
"He is not a horse that takes the kickback well so I was hoping he would be close in the run and he was," said the winning rider.
"When he came into the stretch I was confident I would get there because I had him in the clear, outside of kickback. He’s very genuine. He gave me everything.”
Speaking from California, trainer Doug O'Neill said: "I am so proud of this horse. The owners are the ones who picked him out to claim. They have been super-patient and supportive. He's a young four-year-old on the rise."
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