REVIEW / GODOLPHIN MILE 34 ADIYAT RACING PLUS ISSUE 840 Thursday 4th April 2024 adiyat racing plus.com adiyat racing plus.com By Marcus Townend Jockey Edwin Maldonado conjured a massive closing run on Two Rivers Over to pull off a shock win in the $1million Godolphin Mile and secure his maiden Dubai World Cup night victory. The four-year-old, trained in the US by Doug O’Neill, wore down the pacesetting Walk Of Stars, who hugged the inside rail, with last year’s winner Isolate a game third from an wide draw. At the top of the home straight it appeared like the front-runners had poached a decisive advantage but in the final furlong they were both treading water as their respective petrol gauges began to flicker. 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 Bhupat Seemar trainee Walk Of Stars had made the most of his inside draw under multiple champion jockey Tadhg O’Shea and was shadowed by Isolate with very few of the duo’s rivals getting into the race. There was little involvement from the rest at the finish with Seemar’s Southern Artist staying on best to grab a distant fourth on the line, just ahead of Desert Wisdom. The big disappointment of the event was UStrained favourite and clear form pick Saudi Crown. The Brad Cox-trained four-year-old had only wilted in the closing stages when third to Senor Buscador in a strongly-run Saudi Cup over a furlong further and a big run had been expected dropping back in distance and in class. 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. Geroux said: “He was flat today. I’m afraid he ran too hard last time and it looked like he bounced. He was very nervous before the race too and that’s not usually him.” ‘HE GAVE ME EVERYTHING’ The winner was O’Neill’s second in the race RIVERS COMPLETES A GODOLPHIN MILE SHOCK AS MAGNIFICENT MALDONADO STRIKES I AM SO PROUD OF THIS HORSE. THE OWNERS ARE THE ONES WHO PICKED HIM OUT TO CLAIM. HE'S A YOUNG FOUR-YEAR-OLD ON THE RISE — DOUG O’NEILL.
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