By Adam Houghton
Japanese raider Soul Rush (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) stunned the Meydan crowds as he denied Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the shadows of the post to double his Group 1 tally in the $5 million Dubai Turf sponsored by DP World. The race is a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile in November.
Romantic Warrior, seeking an 11th top-level win of his illustrious career, raced in a share of second in the early stages as Meisho Tabaru (Jpn) (Gold Ship {Jpn}) and Yutaka Take took the 11 runners along at a modest gallop, with Cristian Demuro being sure to keep the fan favourite in his sights aboard Soul Rush. Pushed along in fifth entering the straight, Soul Rush fought his way through a gap between Ghostwriter (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Brede Weg (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) with 300 metres to run, before taking dead aim at Romantic Warrior, who had been unable to kick clear as expected after taking over from Meisho Tabaru at the head of affairs.
The world's highest-earning racehorse of all time, Romantic Warrior still looked set to pocket another monster paycheck for much of the final furlong, but in the final strides he was joined by Soul Rush, who responded willingly to Demuro's urgings to force a photo finish. After a long wait for the judge to call the result, the Yasutoshi Ikee trainee was eventually announced as the winner by a nose, with another length and a quarter back to the fast-finishing Maljoom (Ire) (Caravaggio) in third, just ahead of Ghostwriter and Meisho Tabaru. The final time for the 1,800-metre contest was 1:45.84.
Oh, my ….
dramatically lowers the colours of in the @DPWorldUAE Dubai Turf! #DWC25 | @emirates pic.twitter.com/jnEsxiomts
— Dubai Racing Club (@RacingDubai) April 5, 2025
“Last year, I was beaten by a nose [on Namur, runner-up to Facteur Cheval)–this year, I won by a nose,” said Demuro. “The luck was with me today. It's as good a performance as he's ever produced and he beat the best horse in the world today. He travelled well and he fought until the end. I'm so happy.
“Last year, I thought I had won until the last second. I just waited until the number went up. This year, I was more sure that I had won but I didn't want to get ahead of myself. It is a special win because we are now part of the Romantic Warrior story. He doesn't lose many races, but today he found a good horse.”
Soul Rush came into the Dubai Turf as the winner of eight of his 24 starts, with his most notable victory before Saturday coming when he made the breakthrough at the top level in last year's Mile Championship at Kyoto, having also finished second in that contest in 2023. Last seen finishing third in March's G2 Nakayama Kinen, he'd previously added another Group 1 placing to his record when runner-up to Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}) in the Hong Kong Mile on his final start of 2024.
That card at Sha Tin had also seen Romantic Warrior make history in registering a third consecutive triumph in the G1 Hong Kong Cup, but this latest chapter in his remarkable story ultimately ended in defeat, with McDonald admitting afterwards that he wasn't sure whether his mount had managed to hold on. “Close, wasn't it?” the jockey added. “He's had a long campaign.”
On Maljoom, who was last of the 11 runners on the home turn, jockey Tom Marquand said, “It was a huge run. He's a very talented horse and he's proved that in the past. It's just getting the run right with him. We've tried sitting closer and being more aggressive and it doesn't work, we have to bide our time. There was one split up the straight that might have been the difference but it's just great to have him back running at such a high level. Hopefully we can have a fun year with him now.”
Pedigree Notes
Soul Rush is one of three winners from four runners out of the Manhattan Cafe (Jpn) mare Eternal Bouquet (Jpn)–a half-sister to the G2 Aoba Sho winner Hiraboku Deep (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})–with the others including the Listed scorer and G3 Sekiya Kinen second Dio (Jpn) (Leontes {Jpn}). Eternal Bouquet, in turn, is out of the winning Storm Cat mare Cat Ali, a half-sister to three black-type performers, headed by the G2 Mill Reef Stakes winner and sire Arkadian Hero.
This is also the family of the G1 Pan American Handicap hero Field Cat (Herbager) and Listed scorer Beware Of The Cat (Caveat), both of whom are out of Soul Rush's fourth dam. Beware Of The Cat is perhaps better known as the dam of the GI Belmont Stakes hero Editor's Note and the European champion two-year-old colt Hold That Tiger, both of whom went on to stud careers. Other siblings to Field Cat and Beware Of The Cat include the GI Matron Stakes third Island Kitty (Hawaii) and the unraced Sharp Kitty (Blade), both of whom produced multiple Grade I winners when retiring to the paddocks.
Saturday, Meydan, Dubai
DUBAI TURF SPONSORED BY DP WORLD-G1, $5,000,000, Meydan, 4-5, 3yo/up, 9fT, 1:45.84, gd.
1–SOUL RUSH (JPN), 126, h, 7, by Rulership (Jpn)
1st Dam: Eternal Bouquet (Jpn), by Manhattan Cafe (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Cat Ali, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Careless Kitten, by Caro (Ire)
O-Tatsue Ishikawa; B- Shimokobe Farm (JPN); T-Yasutoshi Ikee;
J-Cristian Demuro. $2,900,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. Miler-Jpn,
G1SW-Jpn, G1SP-HK, 25-9-4-3, $8,403,038. *1/2 to Dio (Jpn)
(Leontes {Jpn}), SW & GSP-Jpn, $1,049,518. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Romantic Warrior (Ire), 126, g, 7, Acclamation (GB)–Folk
Melody (Ire), by Street Cry (Ire). (300,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Peter Lau Pak Fai; B-Corduff Stud & T J Rooney (IRE); T-C S
Shum. $1,000,000.
3–Maljoom (Ire), 126, h, 6, Caravaggio–Nictate (Ire), by Teofilo
(Ire). (72,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA; 160,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT).
O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-GCE Farm Ltd (IRE); T-William
Haggas. $500,000.
Margins: NO, 1 1/4, 1.
Also Ran: Ghostwriter (Ire), Meisho Tabaru (Jpn), Facteur Cheval (Ire), Brede Weg (Jpn), Liberty Island (Jpn), Goemon (GB), Nations Pride (Ire), Holloway Boy (GB). Click for the ERA chart & video.
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