5
Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was in attendance as his prized horse, Spirit Dancer, stormed to victory and won the Howden Neom Turf Cup on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Ferguson was personally present at the King Abdulaziz racecourse as the horse he bred and co-owns emerged on top and netted him a mega payday worth €1.75 million.
The race took place while the Scot’s beloved United were being beaten by Fulham at Old Trafford.
Goals by Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi sunk the Red Devils and handed them their 10th defeat of the campaign.
However, it was a day to enjoy for Fergie as Spirit Dancer beat the likes of Killer Ability and Calif. The horse is trained by Richard Fahey and co-owned by Ferguson, Ged Mason and Peter Done.
It’s Fergie time in Saudi!! 🇬🇧
SPIRIT DANCER powers home in G2 Howden Neom Turf Cup at #TheSaudiCup.
👏 @RichardFahey @OisinOrr pic.twitter.com/V8y6LFNuIA
— The Saudi Cup (@thesaudicup) February 24, 2024
Spirit Dancer has previously earned around £500,000 in winnings from the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy last year.
Before the event, the ex-United manager said, “It’s been to Bahrain and did very well there and obviously this is a step up in standard, but we’ve got a really good horse and hopefully we can do well.”
“It’s not had a great deal of racing actually, for a seven-year-old it’s not had a lot of races so we’re always thinking it’s really fresh. The hospitality [in Saudi Arabia] has been good, the standards of everything has been really top.”
“I didn’t expect it to be so big, I was here 14 years ago and it was nothing like it is today.”
After the race, Ferguson broke into wild celebration alongside his co-owners.
Another Middle East celebration for Sir Alex Ferguson as SPIRIT DANCER wins the G2 Neom Turf Cup!!! 💪🏼#SaudiCup pic.twitter.com/3rUI5wcGL9
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) February 24, 2024
The 82-year-old remarked, “We are living the dream, 100%. 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.”
He added that he was warned the horse had not raced frequently but it was recently subjected to a lot of practice in an attempt to step up its performance levels.
Once again, Ferguson expressed his delight and immense joy with Spirit Dancer’s victory.
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
