Khalid Abdullah | Horse Racing Free Tips

Dettori To Ride In Race Honouring Khalid Abdullah

Frankie Dettori will on Saturday ride in a race in Saudi Arabia named in honour of Prince Khalid Abdullah, the founder of the Juddmonte breeding and racing empire who died last Jan. 12.

Dettori rode Khalid Abdullah's great homebred mare Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in all bar two of her 19 races for trainer John Gosden, for two wins in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, three wins in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., victories in the Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks', G1 Coral-Eclipse and GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

“Prince Khalid did amazing things for the sport of horse racing and it's a pleasure to ride in the race named in his honour,” said Dettori. “He will never be forgotten, and I'll be forever grateful for all the opportunities I was given to ride for him, not least Enable who gave us all such incredible memories.”

“I've ridden in Saudi for years and the racing calendar out there is very strong now,” Dettori added. “Of course, there is the Saudi Cup meeting next month, but there are more good races with top prize money throughout the winter that make it an attractive option for the European jockeys. The dirt course is top-class, and the turf track is beautiful. It's fresh every year, you really can't fault it.

Dettori will ride the former Andrew Balding-trained Recovery Run (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won an Ascot handicap by four lengths last summer and is now trained by Allan Smith for Al Adiyat Racing.

“The Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah Cup on Saturday looks an interesting race, with plenty of familiar names in there like My Frankel and Fabilis,” said Dettori. “I remember I rode Crossed Baton to win the Derby Trial at Epsom a few years back and he only left John [Gosden]'s last year, so he's interesting too. As for my horse, Recovery Run, he won his last start by 21 lengths, so I'd like to think he's got a good chance.”

Silvestre de Sousa will partner the former Khalid Abdullah runner Fabilis in the Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah Cup, and he said, “It's a real honour to have been asked and I am looking forward to spending time out there. The racing is good quality and the people are so welcoming.”

The post Dettori To Ride In Race Honouring Khalid Abdullah appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Abdullah’s Family “Very Committed” To Juddmonte

It will be business at usual at Juddmonte Farms after Juddmonte Group Chief Executive Douglas Erskine Crum told ITV on Saturday that there will be “no change” following the death of the global operation’s founder Prince Khalid Abdullah last week.

Abdullah had raced 118 Group or Grade I winners since entering the game just over 40 years ago, of which he bred 102 of those. He owned stud farms in the UK, Ireland and Kentucky.

“The family has been for some time and still is very committed to keeping Juddmonte as it is going, focusing on the broodmare band, focusing on the homebred operation,” Erskine Crum told ITV Racing. “One of the last decisions in which the prince was involved was the matings for this year, in other words where his 200-odd broodmares are going to go. Whether they are going to go to Frankel, Kingman or some of the great stallions across the world.

“And those horses will be born next year and will race as 3-year-olds in 2025, so if we have a champion in 2025 you will be able to say the prince was actually involved directly in the decision making.

“Juddmonte will continue. Continuity is key for any breeding and racing operation. Of course things change and indeed the prince made some fairly substantial changes in the number of broodmares six or seven years ago, but those changes are necessary to keep the business running and also necessary to make sure that essential continuity of the broodmare is enhanced.”

The post Abdullah’s Family “Very Committed” To Juddmonte appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Mandaloun Looks to Do Juddmonte Proud in Lecomte

The same week that Juddmonte Farms’ owner and founder Khalid Abdullah passed away, the legendary outfit has a chance to take a step toward its long-sought first GI Kentucky Derby win when undefeated ‘TDN Rising Star’ Mandaloun (Into Mischief) goes postward as a likely favorite in the GIII Lecomte S. Saturday at Fair Grounds. The race kicks off the Louisiana oval’s three-race Derby prep schedule, to be followed by the GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby.

Hammered down to 11-10 favoritism debuting Oct. 24 at Keeneland, the homebred was ninth with a quarter-mile to go and encountered sustained traffic before finding daylight inside the eighth pole and charging to get up, earning his diploma and a ‘Rising Star’ badge to boot. The bay backed that call up with a much less eventful allowance/optional claiming score Nov. 28 at Churchill. He shows five local works for this stakes and two-turn bow, capped by a half-mile move in :48 3/5 (16/100) Jan. 9.

“He’s trained very well at Fair Grounds since we got here,” trainer Brad Cox told the Fair Grounds notes team. “We’ve always felt he was cut out to be a two-turn horse based on his physical make-up and how he trains. It shows how much talent he’s got to be able to win his first two races at sprint distances and now we’re going to do what we’ve thought he’s wanted to do all along, and that’s go long.”

Mandaloun’s task was made harder by drawing the 10-hole in the 11-horse group. Two horses who do have route experience as well as graded stakes placings as juveniles fared better when pulling the inside two posts and figure as major contenders.

Winchell Thoroughbreds’ rail-drawn Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) followed up a 5 1/2-length maiden victory Aug. 22 at Ellis with a strong effort to be second after making a wide, early move into a fast pace in the GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 5 at Churchill. Unable to make a dent when finishing a well-beaten third in the GI Champagne S. Oct. 10 at Belmont, the $525,000 Keeneland September buy has been freshened since then and displays a trio of sharp five-furlong local breezes.

One stall to his right will be West Point Thoroughbreds and William Sandbrook’s Arabian Prince (Cairo Prince). Pulling a 12-1 upset on debut in a Churchill off-the-turfer Sept. 2, the $235,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase was fourth when trying to close into a slow pace in the Street Sense S. Oct. 25 in Louisville and completed the trifecta at 13-1 in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. there Nov. 28.

“He’s a beautiful horse and this is the next step, so we’ll see how he fits,” trainer Dallas Stewart said. “He’s improved every time out, and we’re hoping for another progression Saturday. We’d like to save some ground and use the long stretch to our advantage. He’ll come running late.”

A pair of promising runners from the Mike Stidham barn figure to have a say as well. Godolphin’s well-regarded Proxy (Tapit), a neck second when unveiled in a rained-off Monmouth heat Oct. 24, the homebred triumphed in frontrunning fashion here Nov. 26 and repeated in an allowance Dec. 19.

“He’s like a big, immature kid who is still learning with racing,” Stidham said. “Last time when he won, he was a little green about switching leads coming down the lane, but once he leveled off, he drew away at the end, so we were pleased with that. We were deciding whether to run him back in this race or wait for a race like the Risen Star. We felt like he’s a big, healthy, strong colt and we thought the experience of running would do him more good than working three of four more times waiting for the Risen Star.”

Newtown Anner Stud’s Manor House (Upstart) gets a class test after pummeling Laurel maidens by 12 1/4 lengths Dec. 12.

“This is just the beginning for him,” Stidham said. “We really didn’t know what we were running against [at Laurel], but he showed a tremendous amount of talent that day and he’s done nothing but train exactly the same since the win, so, he’s definitely moving forward. We are anxious to see him run against winners and see what he can do.”

The post Mandaloun Looks to Do Juddmonte Proud in Lecomte appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Jack Wolf Joins TDN Writers’ Room

Fresh off a dominant Grade I win by his Starlight Racing’s Charlatan (Speightstown) and a newly-minted ‘TDN Rising Star’ for his outfit, Jack Wolf joined the TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Wolf talked about the highs and lows of 2020 with his barn star, Thoroughbred aftercare and more.

Charlatan’s 3-year-old campaign featured dazzling victories but also a disqualification for a positive drug test in the GI Arkansas Derby and a long layoff that forced him to miss the GI Kentucky Derby. Luckily for Starlight, they also owned a piece of a colt named Authentic (Into Mischief) who carried the flag to a Derby victory and presumptive Horse of the Year trophy.

“It was a roller coaster,” Wolf said. “Initially we had three big horses in there of which Charlatan looked like he was probably going to be the best of the three with Eight Rings and Authentic. Then all this stuff happened. We went to Arkansas and got the disqualification there, then we had to remove a small chip [in his ankle] and that put everything up in the air. In any case, when you’ve got somebody like Bob Baffert adjusting to all these changes, I think we have a little bit of an advantage over everybody else. Then we had Authentic, who [because of the Derby postponement] had seven weeks between the Haskell and the Derby. I don’t think Authentic would have won the Derby if it was run May 2, and it all just worked out. Crazy business.”

Two weeks after Charlatan’s devastating GI Malibu S. win, 3-year-old filly Jouster (Noble Mission {GB}) kept Starlight spirits high with an 8 3/4-length maiden romp Sunday at Gulfstream to earn ‘Rising Star’ honors. The $360,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga buy was a beaten favorite in her first two starts on dirt before relishing the turf in Sunday’s graduation.

“I think we’ve got her on the right surface now,” Wolf said. “The field that she beat the other day, there were some pretty nice horses. I was talking to one of our partners last night and he asked if I thought we’d win the race. I was at the race. So, I’m not going to go down there without thinking we’re going to win the thing. But, in any case, I didn’t think we’d win by 8 3/4 lengths. She’ll probably run in an allowance race next and we’ll point for something like the Belmont Oaks and some of those longer turf races, in the summer.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to the passing of Juddmonte Farms’ Khalid Abdullah, discussed the swift industry backlash to Eric Guillot in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment and looked forward to the beginning of Derby prep season. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

The post Jack Wolf Joins TDN Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post