Held amidst a backdrop of the war in Iraq and in the wake of FIFA’s decision to postpone the U20’s World Cup in the UAE, the world’s richest horse racing day unfolded before 40,000 jubilant spectators at the Nad Al Sheba racecourse in late March.

    His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence, wanted to show that while tension may be felt across the world, it is very much business as usual here in Dubai and what better way to prove it than by staging this magical festival of racing.

    The International Village was alive with a blaze of colour as the sights of Ascot and Melbourne were played out in Dubai, as race fans from across the world adorned their best clothes for the television cameras. The tourists may have unwisely decided that right now is not the time to travel here but the race-goers felt otherwise with the atmosphere at the venue as electric as it has ever been in its eight-year history.

    And what a day it was. The ever-popular Frankie Dettori reacted to the huge cheers from the gallery to ride Moon Ballard to victory in the $6 million big race, much to the delight of the Godolphin stable, which is co-owned by the brothers in the ruling Maktoum family.

    Dettori brought the colt home in a time of 2 minutes, 48 seconds, marginally slower than Dubai Millennium’s awesome performance in three years ago. Moon Ballad’s stunning and easy paced win over American horse Harlan’s Holiday, the mount of John Velazquez and favourite Nayef, ridden by Richard Hills, only served to endorse the expert view that the horse had what it takes to stand up and be counted on the big stage.

    The 11-strong international field in the feature race soon fell by the way side as the running was dominated early by the trio of Moon Ballad, Harlan’s Holiday and Nayef. With all three horses jockeying for positions, Moon Ballad reacted to the cheers of the home crowd and pulled away on the home straight. The American horse pipped Nayef for the second prize.

    Moon Ballad’s victory earned its owners a purse of $3.6 million, with Dettori’s cut believed to be a healthy 10 per cent! Godolphin’s Grandera, which won the World Series last season, finished fourth while State Shinto, owned by Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, came home fifth.

    Victory in the big one clinched a hat-trick of wins on the night for Dettori who was ecstatic with his achievement.

    “It’s such an amazing feeling. It doesn’t get much better than this,” he said after his trade mark victory leap off Moon Ballad. “I had the same feel as when I was on Dubai Millennium when I turned for home. I could not hear the others, and I could only hear the crowd cheering me on. I realised I had the race in the bag on the home straight and just savoured the rest of the race.

    “This is a special day for us and three wins in one race night in such a prestigious event is too much to put into words. I simply had the faith in Moon Ballad and knew it could do it. I had already won two races on the night and was just hoping deep in my heart that I don’t run out of luck and miss out on the big one.”

    But the Dubai World Cup is not just about one race. It is an entire day’s card consisting of seven events with a total prize pot of a whopping $15.25 million, making it the sport’s most valuable race day. It is also now firmly established as the biggest sporting and social day in the region.

    The Dubai Duty Free race, the only one on the evening held on turf, was a memorable occasion for a horse with a wonderful story. Ipi Tombe has somehow survived the ravages of Zimbabwe to become a truly great thoroughbred and won the $2 million race with considerable style.

    Leaving it until late to mount its charge, Ipi Tombe reacted to South African champion jockey Kevin Shea’s nudge to storm home in front of a class field.

    The winning jockey said: “I allowed her plenty of time to settle and I switched her off for a while, but when I asked her for effort, the hair went up on my neck. She was absolutely awesome.”

    Ipi Tombe is now going to America, under US trainer Elliott Walden, but it was a nice parting gift for its trainer in South Africa, Mike de Kock.

    It was a memorable evening for de Kock. Earlier on, the South African watched Victory Moon – which cost just $20,000 - win the UAE Derby at generous odds of 7-1. The two victories underline the emergence of South Africa and Zimbabwe as a truly great breeding ground for champion horses.

    In the Dubai Golden Sheehan, Michael Hills steered long shot State City to victory at odds of 25-1. The race was thrown wide open when red-hot favourite Xtra Heat withdrew on the day before. But despite a clutch of high quality fancied contenders, State City held on to win by a neck from Avanzado.

    It was a successful day for the Hills twins. Michael’s brother Richard won the opening race of the day – the Kahayla Classic – on the back of Bopp Moon. Their proud father Barry, himself a trainer, was in attendance to see the achievements of his boys. Bopp Moon now looks destined for the US racing circuit after proving its caliber in Dubai.

    Dettori’s glory run started in the Godolphin Mile when he guided 4-1 favourite Firebreak to victory ahead of American charger Grey Memo. It was the sixth time in eight races that Godolphin has been successful over the mile on World Cup day.

    One hour later, Dettori was at it again at the controls of hot favourite Sulamani in the Sheema Classic. The 6-4 top biller gave an awesome performance after coming from the rear to simply fly past the front-runners and secure a convincing victory.

    Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford summed up the horse’s performance best when he declared: “He has the potential to be Godolphin’s best horse. He has great acceleration and hopefully he can go on from this. He will be entered into all the best races in the world.

    While those of us living here knew there was never a doubt the event would go ahead, the last word is probably best left to one of the overseas visitors. Todd Pletcher, an American who trains Harlan’s Holiday, said: “We came here to participate in a special race and it has been a wonderful experience.”