Steve Asmussen's Magnitude won the 30th Dubai World Cup to give the trainer a second win in the race after Curlin's success in 2008.
All eyes were on Japan's Breeders' Cup Classic hero Forever Young before the race, having added to his Del Mar success when defending his Saudi Cup crown last month.
However in Magnitude, America also had a horse arriving at Meydan in peak condition having taken the same two prep races that Asmussen's Gun Runner did prior to finishing second to Arrogate in 2017.
Always to the fore in the hands of Jose Ortiz, the four-year-old never surrendered his position and although Forever Young fought hard to reel in his rival, Magnitude remained clear as the winning post approached and the chasing pack wilted.
Forever Young would go one place better than 12 months ago for second, with Simon and Ed Crisford's Meydann sticking on for the bronze medal.
While Asmussen was winning a second Dubai World Cup, it was a first for his jockey, who said: "I'm very happy and we knew we had a very good horse, but Forever Young is one of the best horses in the world and we had to respect that.
"It wasn't really the plan to go to the front and we were leaving all options open. If he jumped well then we would go to the lead, but if somebody else jumped better than him then maybe just sit off the speed. The good thing is he is tactically versatile and he doesn't have a running style.
"He broke well and he put me on the lead and I was very happy to be there.
"He felt great and when I looked to my side passing 600 metres and I saw Forever Young, I knew it was time to go and he was going to be the horse to beat. I asked him to run and he was there for me.
"To win the Dubai World Cup is a dream come true. I'm very happy to be here, I'm very happy for Steve who is back home and very happy for my family who I wish were here today."
For owner Ron Winchell it was long-awaited compensation for Gun Runner's reversal and he said: "This is indescribable, especially after Gun Runner finishing second.
"We knew coming back here we were packed with a very big horse, but it was a big effort and it paid off.
"We knew it would be a tough job to beat one of the world's best racehorses [Forever Young], so to get that job done is unbelievable."
Asmussen said: "What an incredible win. We just wanted to let him to run his race from point A to point B. The horse is running with a lot of confidence and that gave us confidence. It unfolded just how we wanted it to."
Forever Young's jockey Ryusei Sakai said: "Everything went the way we planned but the winner was good."
Calandagan showed why he is officially the best horse in the world when running down long-time front-runner West Wind Blows in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Francis-Henri Graffard's five-year-old suffered defeat in this contest 12 months ago but would end the year top of the world standings after a winning run which began on home soil at Saint-Cloud and would then involve an Ascot double before ending the year with an historic triumph in the Japan Cup.
It was the Crisfords' West Wind Blows who slipped the field who raced in single file for the majority of the contest.
Rounding the bend for home Calandagan had just Breeders' Cup Turf hero Ethical Diamond behind him with Rossa Ryan still going strong aboard West Wind Blows. But an ice-cool Mickael Barzalona refused to panic and his mount soon began closing the distance with a sublime finishing effort.
He would pass his rival to earn a pat down the neck from his jockey, registering a three-quarters of a length success and teeing-up an exciting summer.
Graffard, celebrating his first winner in Dubai, said: "I'm relieved, the winter was long and he's a world champion now and has a big reputation so we just needed to start and get the season going.
"It was a big race and it's always hard to have a horse completely ready for a race like that, I said to Mickael he might need the race. It was tactical and painful to watch but he's a champion.
"Mickael and him get on well now but during the race he was a little on and off the bridle and on the last bend he was asking him to go. I think he needed the run and to get going, but it is now five Group Ones in a row and he's a real champion so I'm glad Princess Zahra (owner) decided to start the season here."
He went on: "I don't know where we will go but he knows how to travel and enjoys his life.
"He's a real champion and today was a big goal and my first winner in Dubai so I'm very happy.
"He's important for the sport and a flagship horse so we won't be afraid to travel."
The Sheema Classic serves as a 'win and you're in' for the Breeders' Cup Turf which will this year be run at Keeneland and while accepting that could fit into Calandagan's schedule, the one certainty seems that international competition will definitely be on the agenda.
Graffard added: "The Breeders' Cup could be an option and I don't see why not, but it might depend if we go back for the Japan Cup again. They are very hard races to win and American tracks are quite tight also, so it might not really suit his abilities.
"The Cox Plate could be a possible especially this year at Flemington which is a big galloping track, but we don't want to be too greedy and we need to think about it and respect the horse.
"I said to Princess Zahra I hope your passport is OK, because we are going to travel."
Ombudsman delivered a spellbinding performance to make a winning return in the Dubai Turf.
John and Thady Gosden's son of Night Of Thunder was one of the stars of 2024, landing the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot before adding the Juddmonte International in a season where he also finished runner-up in the Eclipse and Champion Stakes.
Kept in training by Godolphin, this race was picked out by Sheikh Mohammed as the ideal starting point, a race the Clarehaven training team of course have won three times in the past with Lord North since 2021.
William Buick was in no rush in the saddle in the early stages but cruised stylishly into contention rounding the bend for home. Once Buick unleashed an inch of rein the response was deadly as Ombudsman stormed to the front and carried on galloping to lay down an early statement for the season ahead.
In an all-British one-two it was the Crisfords' Quddwah that filled the runner-up spot, but he was ultimately no match for the two-length winner.
John Gosden said: "I was delighted with him in every way and he's a big and strong horse, he's five now and fully matured.
"I liked that he was fresh but didn't pull and William said he listened and settled and they did the usual thing of going quick then pulling it up on the bend. William crept close and I think where he was correct was by staying wide and giving away ground because when they straightened up he had a clear run."
Paddy Power handed Ombudsman a quote of 25/1 for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but for the time being Royal Ascot is a possible next port of call.
Gosden added: "He was probably 90 per cent today and I think it is one where the race will tighten him and bring him on, but there is a bit of a gap now before Royal Ascot because they don't put a lot of these races on.
"He's come here off a long winter but we've been very happy with his training. I think you are looking Prince of Wales's Stakes again and the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, those are the obvious big summer races.
"But William was hinting if you did want to go further at the end of the year, over a mile and a half, you could. I did talk about a Japan Cup last year but if you remember a certain horse called Calandagan was going for it, that old gelding, and I thought we might stay away from him.
"I'm sure he will go to stud at the end of the year so let's be bold with him and Sheikh Mohammed is keen to take things on."
Buick was keen to heap praise on Ombudsman's training team after securing his first victory in the Dubai Turf.
He said: "Ombudsman showed there on his first run of the season just what he can do. It was a very competitive field and some of the runners have already had runs this winter and I was very pleased with him.
"It was how we hoped it would happen, it was very smooth and he's hopefully got an exciting year ahead.
"He was exactly how I hoped he would be and credit to John and Thady who have had him in impeccable shape all winter and he's never missed a beat. He's been on target every step of the way and I've been involved riding him in some of his work as well, so a huge credit to them.
"He shipped over in great shape and when I rode him on Thursday morning we all knew he was in business."
