Manchester United may have suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Fulham on Saturday, but Sir Alex Ferguson was all smiles after Spirit Dancers’ latest big win which is believed to be worth nearly £1 billion.
It was a day to forget for most United fans, but there is the odd exception for the likes of Ferguson, with one of his horses taking his earnings beyond the £1.7 million mark.
Spirit Dancer, ridden by Oisin Orr, swept to an impressive victory by a length to take the Howden Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting.
The 7-year-old horse had already won £500,000 by winning the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy last year. Today’s contest had nearly double that prize money for first place, and after finishing a close fourth in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan last month, Spirit Dancer was tipped for success this time around.
“We are living the dream, 100%,” Ferguson said, as quoted by the Daily Star. “His trainer Richard [Fahey] said he would have a chance but you can never be too confident in a race like this. It was fantastic.
“After the triumph in Bahrain and coming to this level and looking at the field – the performance from Oisin and the horse was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.
“Richard has made the point a few times that the horse hasn’t had a lot of racing, he has been trying to step it up and I think you’ve seen the evidence today. Oisin said to me that the horse is improving all the time and the evidence is there. I’m delighted.”
We wish Ferguson even more success as a race horse owner. He seems to have an eye for a good horse like he did with footballers.
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