Bahrain International Trophy | Horse Racing Free Tips

Sovereign Headlines Strong Cast For Friday’s Bahrain International Trophy

Friday's £500,000 (approximately US$591,750) Bahrain International Trophy has drawn a strong cast for the 2020 renewal, topped by 2019 Irish Derby hero Sovereign.

Supplemented at a cost of £10,000, Sovereign will be trainer Aidan O'Brien's first ever runner in Bahrain, and jockey Ryan Moore ships in to ride from post eight in the field of 14.

The Ballydoyle master said: “Sovereign is a strong mile-and-a-quarter horse. He is a very strong galloper who likes to go forward in his races, and we think the Bahrain International Trophy will suit him.”

Racecourse Media Group in partnership with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club have secured widespread global coverage, and the race will be shown on on Fox Sports in the United States with an approximate post time of 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

Adding further top-level interest on Nov. 20 is the Japanese-trained mare Deirdre (Mitsuru Hashida), whose big wins include last year's Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Other strong contenders include: last year's Queen Anne Stakes winner Lord Glitters representing David O'Meara, dual Canadian International Stakes winner Desert Encounter runs for David Simcock, and Saeed bin Suroor calls on 2019 Jebel Hatta victor Dream Castle.

Barney Roy has suffered a minor setback and will miss the race, but Godolphin will still be doubly represented – with Mark Johnston's Royal Ascot winner Dark Vision joining Dream Castle.

John Gosden saw Turgenev finish second in the inaugural race last year and will be hoping to go one better with Global Giant, who will be ridden by Frankie Dettori for owner HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

Andrew Balding and King Power Racing were sixth with Pivoine in 2019 and are back this year with Bangkok – while Lady Wannabe (Fozzy Stack), Certain Lad (Mick Channon), Pogo (Charlie Hills) and Quest The Moon (Sarah Steinberg) complete the European challenge.

Two spots in the field are guaranteed for locally-trained horses, and the two Bahraini-based contenders are confirmed as Port Lions (Fawzi Naas) and What A Welcome (Hesham Al Haddad).

Shaikh Salman bin Rashed Al-Khalifa, executive director of Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the class of horses that we have attracted to this year's Bahrain International Trophy.

“To have five individual Group One winners in the field – compared to only one last year – shows the leap in quality. We are very grateful to the trainers and owners for placing their trust in Bahrain, and we very much look forward to welcoming them.”

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Global Cast Descends On Bahrain

The second running of the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday has drawn a competitive international lineup, with little separating the leading fancies in the betting. Each of the 14 runners, including five Group 1 winners, has of course been meticulously primed for a run at this sizable pot, but that statement perhaps applies to Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) more than any other. The international favourite has had this race as his primary target since being bought privately from Ed Dunlop’s yard last year by Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, one of the key organizers of the race. The 5-year-old entire has won two of his four starts since being transferred to John Gosden, including Newbury’s Listed Steventon S. over this trip on July 19. Though he was not disgraced when third in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. on Aug. 8 under Frankie Dettori, assistant trainer Thady Gosden said the horse encountered unsuitably soft ground on that occasion.

“Ideally we’d have had a prep race before this but the ground went at the end of the season so we thought the best thing to do was to leave him and bring him here fresh,” Gosden said. “His work here has been good. The turf track here is world class and he’s enjoyed the faster ground. We are drawn five which we are happy about. They say the inside of the track is where you want to be. It would be wonderful to win the race for His Highness Shaikh Isa; this race was his brainchild so it would mean a lot to him.”

Speaking of global giants, the Japanese expatriat turned Newmarket resident Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) makes the final start of a career that has seen her win the G1 Shuka Sho and G1 Nassau S. The 6-year-old has not visited the winner’s enclosure since the Nassau last August and was most recently eighth in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but assistant trainer Yoshi Hasida said he thinks conditions at Sakhir will suit her. She gets a five-pound weight break from her male rivals.

“Her condition going into the Arc was perfect, but the heavy ground went against her,” Hashida said. “The French horses coped with it better. Her two Group 1 wins came on right-handed tracks at Kyoto and Goodwood. The long straight at Sakhir will suit her. The track looks very fair and we like the firm ground that we will get. We are very excited to take part in the race.”

Aidan O’Brien’s 2019 G1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) reappears off a fifth-place finish in the G2 Long Distance Cup on British Champions Day on Oct. 17 over heavy ground. He reverts to 2000 metres for the first time since last spring and looks for his first win since the Irish Derby.

“I don’t think he ran too bad at Ascot, he just got tired late on,” said O’Brien. “He seems in good form since and he should like the ground. This is 10 furlongs so we’ll find out a lot; he’s in good order. He’s going there quite a fresh horse and he’s lightly raced. It looks a very good track and everyone is very positive about it.”

The Oct. 10 G3 Darley S. one-two Lady Wannabe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}) re-oppose here. The former put in a career-best effort last out to overhaul the Dubai Group 1 winner Dream Castle, who was returning off a two-month break having won a mile conditions race at Thirsk on Aug. 9 but gets a less favourable draw in 13.

Others of interest include last year’s G1 Queen Anne S. winner Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper), who has put in some respectable efforts this term despite being plagued by soft ground on a number of occasions; and the locally trained Port Lions (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who rides a seven-race win streak and upset Deirdre in the Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup in Saudi Arabia in February but hasn’t run since.

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Bahrain International Trophy To Be Shown Worldwide

Friday’s £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy will be shown in 123 countries, with Racecourse Media Group in partnership with the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club having secured widespread global coverage.

Bahrain’s most important race will be shown on Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing in the UK and Ireland, with ITV featuring it as part of its Saturday programme. Fox Sports in the U.S. will carry the race; ESPN in Latin America and the Caribbean (also Sportsmax), SuperSport in Africa (Tellytrack in South Africa) and Green Channel in Japan (via recording). Seventeen Middle Eastern countries will be able to watch via the Dubai Racing Channel and Bahrain TV. Other European channels carrying it will include Sport Deutschland (Germany), SilkNet (Georgia), Equidia (France) and TV12 (Sweden). Racing.com and Sky Thoroughbred Central will show the race in Australia.

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Bahrain Likely Swan Song For Deirdre

MG1SW Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) will make what is likely her final start in the £500,000 Bahrain International Trophy on Friday, Nov. 20. The 2019 G1 Nassau S. heroine is the first Japanese horse to campaign in Bahrain. The Toji Morita-owned bay was eighth in the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Oct. 4. Post positions will be drawn for the 14-horse field on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

“Her two Group 1 wins came on right-handed tracks at Kyoto and Goodwood,” said assistant trainer Yoshi Hashida to the Bahrain notes team. “The long straight at Sakhir will suit her. The track looks very fair and we like the firm ground that we will get. We are very excited to take part in the race.

“We’ve seen that Hollie Doyle is one of the best jockeys in Britain this season. Deirdre is now six and she is a very clever horse, we need something fresh to energise her and that is why we feel that Hollie is an ideal jockey for her. We have found that when a female work rider rides her, that suits her better. Mitsuru has said that this will likely be Deirdre’s last race. We are emotional that this journey is almost over.

“We are very excited to be the first Japanese runner in Bahrain. We hope this will be a good start of a good relationship between the two countries. “

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