Laurel River was a good horse when he campaigned in America for trainer Bob Baffert between 2020 and 2022. Saturday at Meydan Racecourse, now based in the United Arab Emirates with trainer Bhupat Seemar, Laurel River was the best dirt horse in the world, and it wasn’t even close.  Breaking from the outside post in a 12-runner field, Laurel River, clearly the speed of this 1 1/4-mile contest, had made the lead while passing the finish line for the first time the $12 million Dubai World Cup. When he passed it the second time, he was 8 1/2 lengths clear of Ushba Tesoro, winner of the 2023 World Cup but merely a distant second in Laurel River’s unbelievable performance Saturday at Meydan Racecourse. The winning margin was the widest ever in a World Cup, surpassing Dubai Millennium’s six-length victory in 2000.  “He's a special horse. What can I say?” said Seemar. “I’ve never seen a horse who trains like this in the morning.”  :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. It was Seemar’s second major success on the card, Tuz having outrun his previous form easily winning the Group 1 Golden Shaheen, a dirt sprint. Laurel River was even better, blasting away from pace-pressing Defunded midway around the far turn after setting a solid pace. The race appeared to be over before the leader even turned into the homestretch. It was.  Laurel River’s winning time for 2,000 meters was 2:02.31, the fourth-fastest among nine World Cups run over the Meydan dirt track.  Laurel River, a Juddmonte Farms homebred by Into Mischief out of Calm Water, by Empire Maker, hit his American peak winning the seven-furlong Bing Crosby at Del Mar, his final race before winding up in Dubai with Seemar, who took over the Zabeel Stable from his father, Satish Seemar, in 2022. The elder Seemar was suspended after his name appeared on a United States sanctions list owing to his association through racing with Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov. Bhupat Seemar once worked for Baffert, and in 2022 saddled Summer Is Tomorrow to a 20th-place Kentucky Derby finish.   Laurel River was set to start as one of the favorites in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile but suffered an injury and failed to make the race. Juddmonte sent him to Dubai last summer, and Laurel River made his UAE debut Jan. 26 in the Al Shindagha Sprint. Racing without blinkers for the first time, he checked in seventh, beaten more than 10 lengths, but with blinkers back on and a stretch-out to a one-turn mile, Laurel River on March 2 romped in the Group 2 Burj Nahaar.   Questions about Laurel River’s stamina hovered over the horse coming into the World Cup, his first try beyond one mile, but not from Seemar and Tadhg O’Shea, who had ridden Laurel River in his two starts this past winter. O’Shea came to Dubai in 2001 and has won multiple jockey UAE championships. This was his first World Cup winner, and he came into the race confident. Following a recent workout, O’Shea said he’d told Seemar he had “never, ever ridden a horse who went like that.”  Laurel River ran like he worked. Midway around the far turn he hit a gear Defunded most decidedly did not possess. The closers had no chance. Ushba Tesoro rallied well from last to take second from Senor Buscador, reversing their top-two finish last month in the Saudi Cup. Both horses ran to form but hooked an improbably dominant winner Saturday. Senor Buscador validated his Saudi Cup win and now has hit high notes in four starts dating to the Cigar Mile in early December; he’s had an incredible run. Ushba Tesoro’s connections said his next major goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Del Mar.  Japanese horses Wilson Tesoro, Dura Erede, and a disappointing Derma Sotogake finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. Derma Sotogake was ridden by Oisin Murphy because his named rider, Christophe Lemaire, was injured earlier on the card. Defunded finished seventh while Kabirkhan failed to live up to his hype and was eighth. The American shippers Newgate and Crupi finished ninth and 10th, respectively.  Seemar said it was up to Juddmonte leadership, in the end, to formulate plans for 6-year-old Laurel River. Two paths are available: Sit chilly in Dubai and await the 2024-25 racing season or return to America later this year. If he runs like he did in the World Cup, no one is beating him here, either.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.