Animal Kingdom crafted an authoritative victory in the G1 Dubai World Cup, to pocket a whopping $10,000,000 in prize money, being the richest race in the world. The 2011 Kentucky Derby winner left all those who watched the race spell bound when he stormed to the lead on top of the straight and teared down the opponents going for the line.

"It's fantastic. This is just an extraordinary animal, and that reminded me very much of his win in the Derby. He came with the same sort of run and when he goes clear like that you feel so confident. He's a very powerful horse,"said  trainer Graham Motion.

The son of Leroidesanimaux having missed last year’s running of the Dubai World Cup due to an injury, was nursed well by trainer Motion to get him back to shape and it was at the insistence of Barry Irwin, of owners Team Valor,that saw the Derby Hero line up at Meydan Race Track for the richest race in the world. "This horse has been some kind of saga. It's been up, down, up, down, but we always knew he had a race like this in him,” mentioned Barry. "Graham did an incredible job and I'd never seen him look fitter. Credit to the jockey, too, because as bone-headed a ride as he gave him last time, he was brilliant today. I'm thrilled to win a race like this without medication. It means a lot to the horse and a lot to the racing industry,"he added, complimenting the trainer and the rider.

Taking off from 12 draw, Joel did not rush up with Animal Kingdom but nursed him steadily to be with the front bunch, running about four off the fence, as they passed the backstretch, with about 15 lengths covering the entire field. Rounding the last turn, Joel made a quick move with his mount to be on the haunches of Royal Delta, who was showing the way to the field. Animal Kingdom sailed ahead on straightening up and the race was his all through the stretch to the winning post. Red Cadeaux made its way through horses to be the runner-up while Planteur was third another two lengths adrift.

"That was shocking," said jockey Joel Rosario . "I thought he could win but I didn’t think he could win like that. He proved that not only is he a top horse, but that he is one of the top horses in the world,"