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Disappointed Dubai contingent: 'We'll be back'
Dressed in fashionably cut dark blue suits, eyes shaded from the late-afternoon glare by stylish sunglasses, Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum and trainer Saeed bin Suroor walked beside the massive colt, the sheikh's first-ever entrant in a Triple Crown race.
It was an impressive entrance for the sheikh, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, but he left Churchill Downs disappointed. Worldly Manner faded to seventh in the stretch, finishing nearly five lengths behind winner Charismatic.
The sheikh bought Worldly Manner, who won three of four starts as a 2-year-old, from breeders John and Betty Mabee late last summer for a reported $5 million.
The colt wintered in Dubai and was the mystery horse of this year's Derby field, coming into the race without a 3-year-old prep race other than a private trial in Dubai.
Jockey Jerry Bailey was noncommittal when asked whether a prep race would have helped Worldly Manner. "We'll never know," he said.
Sheikh Mohammed originally planned to run as many as three horses in the Derby. Prado's Landing finished well back in the Blue Grass Stakes and Aljabr was scratched from the Derby with lameness on Friday.
That left Worldly Manner, who went off at 14-1 from the No. 11 post position.
He got off cleanly and stalked the leaders four wide through the first mile. Coming around the second turn, the colt looked ready to bid for the lead in the stretch, but weakened and fell back.
"In the last two furlongs, he just stopped," bin Suroor said. "Jerry said that when he started to push that he stopped."
Bin Suroor made it clear the sheikh won't give up his Derby quest after one failure.
"We're happy to be here, and we'll be back next year," he said.