Dubai Millennium: the horse named to be a champion who more than lived up to it

Daylami, Montjeu, Giant's Causeway and Dubai Millennium have been shortlisted for this year's public vote for British racing's Hall of Fame, focusing on horses from the turn of the century. We've already profiled Daylami and Montjeu, and now it's the turn of Dubai Millennium. Cast your vote by August 25 here.

There was a pretty big clue that Dubai Millennium might be something special before he even made it to the racecourse. It was in his name.

The original intention was apparently to call him Yaazer, which translates as white gazelle and is in itself quite an imposing label for a racehorse to live up to.

Yet when he started showing promise at home as a two-year-old, Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, offered what could have been a huge hostage to fortune by deciding to name him to celebrate his home country and the upcoming year 2000.

It is a tribute to what the horse achieved that his owner will never have had cause to regret that decision.

If the name wasn’t enough, a superb debut rather gave the game away that he was likely to achieve something extraordinary. He ran only once at two, in a Class 4 maiden at Yarmouth, yet could hardly have announced his arrival any louder had he started at Royal Ascot. The fine looker was always travelling easily under Frankie Dettori and simply destroyed a field containing some useful sorts. He was value for at least twice his winning margin of five lengths, causing the Racing Post analyst on the day to proclaim: “He looks like a serious Derby horse.”

As was the custom with his owner’s best horses, he was moved from David Loder to Saeed bin Suroor’s Godolphin string during a winter that was filled with anticipation. And the dreams looked to get closer to reality when he reappeared the following spring, bounding up by nine lengths in a conditions race at Doncaster and then turning the Predominate Stakes at Goodwood, an established Derby trial then, into something of an exhibition event at 4-11.

Epsom itself was an anti-climax. Sent off favourite, Dubai Millennium raced too keenly and palpably failed to stay the trip, trailing in ninth behind Oath.

However, his rise to the top was not cancelled, merely delayed. Not only did he never lose again – he never even looked like doing so.

Dubai Millennium got back on track with an all-the-way victory in a Group 2 contest dropped back to a mile and a quarter at Maisons-Laffitte, then repeated the feat in the Prix Jacques le Marois over a mile at Deauville, recording his first Group 1 success without being at all hard pressed.,

That meant he started red-hot 4-9 favourite for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, where he turned Europe’s mile championship event into an absolute procession, coming home an easy six-length winner.

His date with destiny came the following spring in the 2000 Dubai World Cup, the race he was pretty much named for.

Not even Sheikh Mohammed could have dreamed his foresight in switching from Yaazer would pay off so spectacularly as Dubai Millennium carried his imposing title to a massively impressive success at Nad Al Sheba. He set a strong pace in front, quickened again as they turned for home and destroyed some high-class US dirt horses, passing the post six lengths to the good, despite easing off in the final 50 yards.

Dettori described Dubai Millennium that day as "the best I've ridden", his mount earning an outstanding Racing Post rating of 139.

Dubai Millennium and Jerry Bailey stretch out to land an easy victory in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2000Credit: Julian Herbert (Getty Images)

He returned to Europe to hand out an eight-length thrashing to a smart field (Poule d'Essai des Poulains, St James's Palace, Prix du Moulin and Prix d'Ispahan winner Sendawar was sent off favourite) in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, only to suffer a career-ending injury afterwards.

Tragically, even worse misfortune was to follow as he contracted grass sickness and died less than a year after his enforced retirement

The fact that his small, sole crop of foals included the high-class Dubawi, who is now one of the world’s leading stallions, suggests that Dubai Millennium might have made as big a name for himself at stud as he did on track had he lived.

Read this next:

'The last time I was going so fast I was in a Concorde' - Hall of Fame nominees Daylami and Montjeu remembered  

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