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Wide draw takes its toll as Bullish luck finishes fifth

Murray Bell

Bullish Luck battled on late from an impossible position to finish a creditable fifth in last night's US$5 million Dubai Duty Free, won by England's David Junior.

The turf track at Nad Al Sheba was playing with a pronounced leader bias, which immediately put the widely drawn Tony Cruz-trained Bullish Luck (gate 15) and his stablemate Russian Pearl (16) at a huge disadvantage.

David Junior, handled by Jamie Spencer and revelling in the major advantage of having drawn barrier one, had a saloon passage throughout to score comprehensively.

Bullish Luck's rider Christophe Soumillon realised what was happening and hooked Bullish Luck into the clear as early as possible, but found himself in less favourable ground wide out on the track.

Russian Pearl, handled by Felix Coetzee, travelled three wide with cover but never really improved his position and laboured home in ninth place.

The Dubai Duty Free, the world's equal-richest race on turf, was the second leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, with the opening leg being the Futurity Stakes (1,600m) in Melbourne on March 4. The winner of that race, Fields of Omagh, was running for a US$1 million bonus last night but faded in the final 300m to finish seventh.

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