Vale of York takes Juvenile in Santa Anita

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Johnny Murtagh was disappointed with Alfred Nobel

Vale Of York struck a blow for the Godolphin camp in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

The Invincible Spirit colt was considered a big outsider for the race following placed efforts in the Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot and the Gran Criterium at San Siro, but jockey Ahmed Ajtebi always appeared confident.

Settled just behind the early leaders, Vale Of York picked up strongly in the final furlong to gain a narrow verdict from favourite Lookin At Lucky.

The latter has to be considered a slightly unlucky loser having broke widest of all from stall 13.

Bin Suroor said: 'I was happy with him and the horse has improved a lot with each run.

'We said to Ahmed to keep him close up during the race and it was an excellent ride.'

It was a fairytale result for Ajtebi, a Dubai national, who was taken under his wing by Sheikh Mohammed after he spotted him riding camels.

Ajtebi said: 'He's a great horse, I've been riding him since his first run. He finished second in a Group One on his last start in soft ground but today he has shown he is a good horse.'

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford added: 'That was fantastic and he is a thoroughly honest colt.

'He has been running in all of the top European races and he truly deserves his win here today.

'Running on the synthetic surface was a bit of a chance but he handled it well. Whether he can handle dirt as well we don't know but we will give it a try in the Kentucky Derby next year.'

Crisford went on: 'Ahmed has been given some big opportunities by Sheikh Mohammed and he rides the horses that Sheikh Mohammed wants him to ride.

'Frankie Dettori is our stable jockey but Ahmed will continue to ride the horses Sheikh Mohammed wants him to.

'We came into this race thinking the horse would run well, but we didn't necessarily think he was going to win.

'The good thing about him is that he is a good, tough, versatile horse who takes his racing well.

'We took a chance coming here against the Californian horses and the other good American two-year-olds and thankfully it has worked out well.

'We will definitely take him back to Dubai and look at the Guineas and the Derby there at Sheikh Mohammed's new Meydan racecourse.

'We will see after that but the Kentucky Derby is an obvious place to go.

'That is now our 11th Grade One victory this year and the stable are operating at a high level in all corners of the world, as our second in the Melbourne Cup showed last week.'

Bob Baffert said of the runner-up: 'The post killed us. We were done no favours by the draw.

'It's a little bit annoying when you know you have the best horse in the race and don't win.'

Johnny Murtagh was on board the unplaced Alfred Nobel and said: 'It was a rough race and especially at the first bend. My lad emptied out a little bit and he might not have stayed.'

The Brian Meehan-trained Radiohead failed to land a blow and his rider Martin Dwyer said: 'The outside post killed me and I could never get to where I wanted to be, but he did run on up the straight.'

Ryan Moore, rider of Dewhurst winner Beethoven, who finished to good effect having suffered terrible traffic problems early on, said:

'He ran well, but he got killed early on and that was that.'