Sir Alex Ferguson's racehorse Spirit Dancer wins £1.2m race as Man United suffer Fulham defeat
While Manchester United had a day to forget with a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Fulham, it was a day of celebration for Sir Alex Ferguson as his racehorse, Spirit Dancer, won the Howden Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting.
As United were losing to Fulham, Spirit Dancer was racing to victory. The horse is trained by Richard Fahey and co-owned by Ferguson, Ged Mason and Peter Done. Last year, Spirit Dancer won £500,000 in the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy.
Saturday's win in the Neom Turf Cup, another Group Two event, saw the horse beat strong competition from Aidan O'Brien's Luxembourg, Andrew Balding's The Foxes and John and Thady Gosden's Jack Darcy. With jockey Oisin Orr, Spirit Dancer won impressively by a length. This victory takes the horse's earnings beyond the £1.7million mark.
READ MORE: Manchester United tipped for shock Ross Barkley transfer after Dave Brailsford meeting
READ MORE: I spotted Man United fans' reaction to Marcus Rashford moment and it summed up his biggest flaw
"We are living the dream, 100 per cent," said a delighted Sir Alex, who celebrated wildly with his co-owners after the race. "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."
Mason, who owns several other horses over both Flat and
Read on manchestereveningnews.co.uk
