It turned out to be one of the most auspicious debuts but when Jumeirah Coast was 10th and last – a long way last – it certainly didn’t look that way.
“We were really high on Jumeirah Coast all winter and spring but it sure didn’t look good at the start,” said Craig Smith, who trains the three-year-old for himself, Jamie Graham and John Fowlis. “I was thinking he was going to run last. I thought this is embarrassing.”
But then, kaboom, Jumeriah Coast kicked in, moved up along the rail down the backstretch and then started to get into full throttle around the final turn under jockey Rico Walcott. Then, down the stretch, Jumeriah Coast really put it together moving four wide, tipping out at the three-sixteenths pole when he encountered traffic and then running away to win by a length and three quarters in that June 27 one-mile inauguration at Century Mile.
“Rico was laughing when he came into the winner’s circle,” said Smith. “He told me half way through the race he thought ‘Craig is probably sick right now.’ He told me he was wondering what I was thinking.”
What Smith was thinking was how in the world Jumeirah Coast was going to win?
Read more here.
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