The ex-Port Elizabeth runner, Lizard's Desire by the unfashionable sire Lizard's Island, almost stunned the racing world when he got within a whisker of winning the richest race in the history of horseracing, the Dubai World Cup worth USD 10 million. Image: Andrew Watkins

Kevin Shea (pictured) was in celebratory mood after the finish as he thought he had the race in the bag but the photo finish disappointed him and many other South Africans in the process. GLORIA DE CAMPEAO (BRZ) lead most of the way and stayed on well from the flying De Kock runner to win a fine race.

Allybar ran third for Godolphin. In the end, the whisker loss for the South Africans was worth USD 4 million less in prize money but the up side is that they still take home USD 2 million for second place.

Post race quotes from the Dubai World Cup, sponsored by Emirates Airline

Pascal Bary, trainer, Gloria de Campeao, 1st: “If he’s alone after he’s taken the lead and no one comes after him, it is so difficult to catch him. He wants to fight.”

Tiago Pereira, jockey, Gloria de Campeao, 1st: “I thought I had won but as we past the post, I looked across and the second jockey was celebrating, so I thought I’d keep quiet and wait for the result. The horse settled in front and I dropped my hands 300 metres out and asked him to kick on. He was so brave and this is all just a dream.”

Kevin Shea, jockey, Lizard’s Desire, 2nd: “It’s a very bitter pill to swallow, but I’ve got to swallow it. When I looked up it was just after the line and I was in front and I thought I’d got it. It’s hard to take. The horse gave me everything but the winner got it soft up front.

Ahmed Ajtebi, jockey, Allybar, 3rd: “I was not lucky with my draw. He did not take the gap. It happened last time in the [Al] Maktoum Challenge. I go inside the rail and get beat by one length – finished fourth. Tonight, bad draw. I find the gap, but he’s the kind of horse that is a little bit soft. If he takes the gap, I win by lengths.”

Ramon Dominguez, jockey, Gio Ponti, 4th: “I had a great trip. I was very proud of how my horse ran. They were setting a very modest pace in front of me. That really affected my horse. I wish there was a little more pace. They just didn’t come back a whole lot.”

Frankie Dettori, jockey, Mastery, 5th: “Ran super.”

Kieren Fallon, jockey, Gitano Hernando, 6th: “They went no pace and consequently, there were traffic problems and everything was blocking up in front of me. If they’d gone faster, the horses would have spread out more but on a tight track like this, you need some room.”

Garrett Gomez, jockey, Richard’s Kid, 7th: “I couldn’t get him to quicken. It was like he was in quicksand. All of a sudden, the last sixteenth of a mile, he started hitting gears. If I could get a couple more like that, I would still have a chance there. They started to quicken coming off the bend, I was following Gio Ponti. I gave up on Gio Ponti before we turned for home and I wheeled my horse out. The pace was why that horse won it.”

Ryan Moore, jockey, Mr. Brock, 8th: “Ran quite a good race, just not good enough.”

John Velazquez, jockey, Crowded House, 9th: “He was slowly away and got behind when we just had too much ground to make up.”

Tom Queally, jockey, Twice Over, 10th: “I was never travelling well and he was hanging to the right most of the way. He got a slight bump on the first turn and he never was really travelling well after that. It was disappointing.”

Christophe Soumillon, jockey, Red Desire, 11th: “When she came out, she didn’t accelerate in the stretch.”

Olivier Peslier, jockey, Vision d'Etat, 12th: “He travelled okay until the pressure came on and then he wasn’t going anywhere. He raced too keenly, a bit like he did in the Arc.”

Aaron Gryder, jockey, Amor de Pobre, 13th: “He travelled well. Early in the straight, I asked him to open his lungs and stretch. He gave me everything but in the last 400, we weren’t making any ground.”

Julien Leparoux, trainer, Furthest Land, 14th: “It was disappointing. He was never really into it.”