2009 Dubai World Cup Winner
April 4 - Well Armed
Kudos on winning the richest race in the world (at the time) but the real story about Well Armed begins with the man behind the horse, Bill Casner.
Well Armed was raced by WinStar, which at the time was a partnership between Kenny Troutt and Bill. But this was Bill's horse. This IS Bill's horse and will always be his horse. Without Bill, this horse's racing career would have been cut short before it got off the ground. Bill did everything to care for Well Armed, to get him healthy, and did it with old-fashioned horsemanship, creative new technology, and the hardest thing to do sometimes, he gave him a lot of time before he gave him another chance. To return to the track was a victory; to win the Dubai World Cup was a story book.
But it's the rest of Well Armed life that sounds more like a fairy tale. You see, Bill took HIS horse back to Texas and used him in some roping contests. I believe he was used by a young girl in some three-day event which is dressage, cross country, and show jumping. You see, his career wasn't over before it got started and it was not over when he retired; Well Armed was just getting started. If the horse racing industry is ever looking for a poster boy (& horse) to campaign to show how we love our horses, care for horses, and can have careers after their racing careers are over, start taking your pictures and putting up your posters. This is your boy, and HIS man.
Well Armed was a tough chestnut gelding who delivered one of the most jaw dropping performances in the history of the Dubai World Cup. He was foaled in 2003, a son of two time Horse of the Year Tiznow out of the mare Well Dressed. He raced for WinStar Farm, the powerhouse Kentucky operation, and he was trained by Eoin Harty, the former Bob Baffert assistant who had built a nice stable of his own. Aaron Gryder rode him on the day his name went into racing history.
Well Armed had been a useful older horse on the California circuit through 2008, winning the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita that fall to push himself into the top ranks of the older male division. He kicked off 2009 with a smart victory in the San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita, then WinStar decided to ship him halfway around the world for a shot at the world's richest race at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai. Most American observers thought he had a shot at hitting the board, but few predicted what was to come.
The 2009 Dubai World Cup turned into one of the most stunning runaways in the history of the event. Well Armed simply destroyed his international rivals, drawing off down the long Dubai stretch and crossing the wire 14 lengths in front. The margin was the largest in the long history of the race and remains a benchmark performance in international racing. Aaron Gryder sat motionless in the saddle as the gelding kept opening daylight, and he later said the colt had given him the easiest big race ride imaginable.
Well Armed continued to race at the top level after his Dubai win and brought home career earnings of more than $5 million, putting himself among the leading earners of his time. As a gelding he had no breeding career to look forward to, so he kept running for a number of years before eventually being retired. He spent his retirement at Old Friends Equine in Kentucky. Well Armed is remembered as the king of the 2009 Dubai World Cup, the horse who turned the world's biggest race into a one horse show under the desert lights.
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