16 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 838 Thursday 21 st March 2024 DUBAI WORLD CUP adiyat racing plus.com DRAMATIC DUBAI DUTY FREE OF OLD, FUELLED MY PASSION FOR RACING By Andrew Hawkins There is nothing greater than seeing champion horses going toe-to-toe, stride-for-stride, duelling at the peak of their powers. If that is a measure of a great race, then the 2001 Group 1 Dubai Duty Free delivered in spades. It was a mouthwatering clash on paper: Sunline, New Zealand's mare of the world, tackling her old sparring partner Fairy King Prawn, the horse of Hong Kong, with Jim And Tonic, the French red, adding further spice to the rematch. Each on their day could claim to be the best horse in the world between 1600m and 2000m. Perhaps less so Fairy King Prawn, whose sole attempt at a middle distance saw him finish sixth in the HKG1 Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) three weeks before his Dubai debtut. However, he was an electric sprinter-miler with wins from 1000m to 1600m at both Hong Kong tracks — Sha Tin and Happy Valley — as well as at Tokyo in the JPN G1 Yasuda Kinen. Yet the "middle-distance champion" tag could certainly befit Sunline, a two-time G1 Cox Plate (2040m) winner who, at that time, had won nine Group 1 races. In the 1999-2000 racing season, beginning August 1st, she had won eight of her nine races leading into the Dubai Duty Free, with her sole defeat coming by a nose in the G2 Turnbull Stakes (2000m). Those eight wins came across three different countries and ranged from 1200m in the G1 Manikato Stakes to the 2040m of the Cox Plate, which she won by a widening seven lengths. And it was definitely a label fitting of Jim And Tonic, who was the first true globetrotter to pave the way for horses like Takeover Target, Red Cadeaux, Highland Reel and Magic Wand in the years ahead. The 1999 G1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m) winner, he was coming off a fair third in the same race in 2000. That same Sha Tin card had seen Sunline and Fairy King Prawn match motors in a race for the ages in the 2000 G1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m). Sunline, so deftly guided by regular partner Greg Childs, kicked clear before her tenacity saw her fend off crowd favourite Fairy King Prawn for the win. A RACE FOR THE AGES So, the Dubai Duty Free was set to be a race for the ages - and that's before others lining up were also considered, including G1 Grand Prix de Paris (2000m) Victor Slickly, JPNG1 NHK Mile Cup (1600m) winner Eagle Cafe, G1 Eddie JIM AND TONIC WAS THE FIRST TRUE GLOBETROTTER WHO PAVED THE WAY FOR HORSES LIKE TAKEOVER TARGET, RED CADEAUX, HIGHLAND REEL AND MAGIC WAND IN THE YEARS AHEAD. Jim And Tonic
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