Deirdre To Visit Galileo In 2021

A new direction in the extraordinary odyssey of the Japanese mare Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}-Reizend {Jpn, by Special Week {Jpn}) began on Monday when the 6-year-old left her adopted home of Newmarket to begin her stud career in Ireland. Her first mating is planned to be with Coolmore’s champion sire Galileo (Ire).

Bred by Northern Farm and raced by Toji Morita, Deirdre’s first three seasons of racing were restricted largely to Japan, where she won five races, including the G1 Shuka Sho. She also took third in the G1 Dubai Turf on her first start outside her native country. Following her return visit to the Dubai World Cup meeting in 2019, Deirdre travelled on to Hong Kong and then to Newmarket, which has subsequently remained her base for an ambitious international campaign.

On her second start in Britain she became the first Japanese-trained horse to win a Group 1 contest in Europe when triumphing in the Nassau S. at Goodwood. Since then, she has run in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, France and, finally, Bahrain last month.

Yoshi Hashida, whose father Mitsuru has trained Deirdre throughout her career, told TDN, “She is going to the next phase but the moments we spent in Newmarket and around the world will be the memories we cherish forever. She will visit Galileo and probably stay in Ireland for two or three years before returning to Japan.”

Throughout her lengthy stay in England at Abington Place, Deirdre has been accompanied by her daily rider Yuta Komiyama, who has become as well known on Newmarket Heath as his famous mount.

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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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Champion Racemare Enable On Target To Begin 2020 Campaign In Sunday’s Coral-Eclipse

Star mare Enable is on course to begin her 2020 campaign with a defense her Coral-Eclipse crown this Sunday at Sandown, but it will be no easy task with an eye catching field unveiled at the entry stage on Monday.

The 6-year-old daughter of Nathaniel will be partnered by regular rider Frankie Dettori for trainer John Gosden, and faces a likely field of seven other talented contenders.

Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup winner Ghaiyyath, who beat both 2019 Investec Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck and Stradivarius at Newmarket. looks the principle challenger on paper.

However, the supporting cast is littered with talent, including Enable's stablemate Lord North. John Gosden's colt has risen through the handicap ranks all the way to winning the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes a fortnight ago at Royal Ascot in impressive fashion.

Japan, who disappointed that day, but has a Juddmonte International win to his name, is also slated to take his chance. And the field is given an International flavor as Group 1-winning Japanese-superstar mare Deirdre in the line-up.

Magic Wand, Regal Reality and Bangkok make up the entry list.

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