Hard to say really. He ended the season on a mark of 125, which made him joint-seventh in the World Thoroughbred Rankings alongside Cavalryman, Conduit, Gio Ponti and Youmzain. He was, briefly, the highest-rated horse in the world so there were some actions to back up those ratings.
That came with his victory in the Group One Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba on World Cup night. Beforehand it was reasonable to make some sort of case for most of the field, and yet Gladiatorus trounced them with a relentless display of galloping. Having set strong fractions early on he never looked like being caught in the straight and the enduring memory is of his jockey, Ahmed Ajtebi, standing up in the irons and celebrating yards from the line, which meant that the final winning margin over Presvis – three and a quarter lengths – was less flattering than it might have been.
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