The Newmarket training ranks will be boosted by the addition of leading Qatari trainer Hamad Al-Jehani, who is to set up with a “small number” of horses owned by Wathnan Racing, the operation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Al-Jehani, who will continue to train in Qatar over the winter, will be based in the lower yard at Tom Clover's Kremlin House Stables. The deal has been negotiated by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who has been responsible for buying a number of horses for Wathnan Racing in recent seasons, including the Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who was one of two Royal Ascot winners for the operation last season.
Now 35, Al-Jehani is a former international show jumper who was a member of the Qatari national team. He has been training since 2013 and notched his first winner in Qatar the following year.
Having started out with three racehorses, he now has a string of 80 in Doha and is leading the Qatari trainers' championship on 53 winners, including the Qatar Guineas winner Lil' Frank (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whom he bought from the Tattersalls July Sale last year for 52,000gns. He also saddled the former John and Thady Gosden-trained Jeff Koons (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to win the Qatar Derby in December for Wathnan Racing.
“I am excited to have the chance to train in Newmarket,” said Al-Jehani. “It's an amazing opportunity for me to work in this historic training centre. I have been attending the sales in Newmarket for many years and have long been an admirer of the world-class facilities. I'm really looking forward to getting started.”
Olly Tait, adviser to Wathnan Racing, added, 'Hamad's had a brilliant first season training Wathnan horses in Qatar and we are delighted to be giving him this experience. Alban de Mieulle, who also trains for Wathnan in Qatar, takes a number of horses to France in the summer and had great success with [dual Listed winner] Bolthole last year. It would be wonderful if Hamad can do something similar in Newmarket.”
Al-Jehani will be assisted at Kremlin House by Tommy Allen, whohas spent the past three years assisting Classic-winning trainer George Boughey.
Boughey said, “I am obviously very sorry to lose Tommy after what has been a hugely successful three years together. But he is leaving very much with our blessing. It's a great chance for him and I've no doubt he will be an enormous asset to Hamad Al-Jehani. Henry Morshead has worked with me and Tommy for the past season and will take over his place.”
During 2023, Wathnan Racing had horses with a variety of trainers in Europe, including John and Thady Gosden, Ralph Beckett and Eve Johnson Houghton in Britain and Carlos and Yann Lerner and Christophe Ferland in France.
With an increasing number of international stamps in his passport, the multiple Group winner Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) is fast becoming one of the most admirable horses in training.
Only twice in his 16 starts has the Archie Watson-trained four-year-old ever been out of the first three, but more impressive is that 10 of those runs have ended in victory – in five different countries, and counting. On Saturday, his 2024 debut resulted in a win in the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup in Qatar, a local Group 2 staged during the HH The Amir Sword meeting.
Brave Emperor, owned by the members of the Middleham Park Racing LX syndicate, held off the globally famous colours of Coolmore's Derrick Smith, carried by runner-up Cairo (Quality Road), with an equally renowned set of colours on the third horse, Godolphin's Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).
“I've run out of superlatives,” says Middleham Park Racing's Tom Palin of the horse who is a syndicator's dream. “I've described him in every which way I possibly can. Hero, legend, dude. I don't think we've ever quite had a horse like him, and I don't think many trainers or owners could ever dream of having a horse like him. He can go on good to firm or heavy, and he has won over five, six, seven, eight, and nine furlongs.”
This time last year, Brave Emperor recorded his first stakes success on his first foray outside the British Isles when winning the Listed Prix de la Californie at Cagnes-sur-Mer. He then set about clocking up points on the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, winning a qualifying conditions race at Kempton before finishing second in the final leg of the series at Chelmsford in the Cardinal S.
The Run for the Roses was probably sensibly ruled out, but Brave Emperor and Archie Watson's travelling team continued the globetrotting a little closer to home, with victory in the G3 Grosser Preis der Wohnstatte Krefeld next on the horse's agenda, followed by third in the G3 Stockholms Stora Pris. Royal Ascot and his run out the back in the G3 Hampton Court S. was really the only blip in an otherwise exemplary season, and he recovered from that to win four of his five subsequent starts, including the G2 Premio Vittorio di Capua, G3 Prix Daphnis and G3 Grosser Preis der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf. Luke Morris has been Brave Emperor's regular partner in all bar three of this starts, and the pair could be off to Hong Kong next for the G1 FWD Champions Mile and a pop at superstar Golden Sixty (Aus).
“He's been invited out there at the end of April and that looks the route that we'll travel with him,” Palin confirms. ” It's a $2.5 million race. I think we probably have to finish about sixth or better to get our declaration fee back. And look, he's very versatile. We know Hong Kong can throw up varying ground states, so you wouldn't be going there terribly worried about whatever the underfoot conditions are. But obviously, it's a race Golden Sixty's made his own.”
He added, “That was a career best there on Saturday, so it feels a sensible race to be going for at this point. And we know he takes traveling very well. Obviously, it'd be a bit different because he's got the quarantine procedures to go through there for five days before and five days allowed on the track, so it'd be a bit longer than what he's used to, but if there's ever a horse you're just going to go, 'Look, he'll travel fine', it's him, isn't it?”
With Brave Emperor set to arrive back in the UK on Wednesday followed by a brief spell at Hillwood Stud, Palin outlines some of the key mile contests in Europe as possible targets after his potential Hong Kong voyage. The Prix d'Ispahan, Lockinge and Queen Anne S. are all under consideration during the first half of the European season. It's a bold call, but this is a horse who clearly thrives on his racing, as his 11 runs from January to November last year showed.
“I think he's just growing up with racing as well,” says Palin. “He's figuring out what the game's about. Obviously, Luke's been on board him for the vast majority of his career now and he feels he's getting faster, he's getting smarter about his racing, which is why I think even the [Prix de la] Foret, back a furlong at some point wouldn't be a bad thing with him.
“Louis Wicks looks after him every day, he knows him inside out, and he says the horse is just so easy to do at home. That has to help with his consistency. He doesn't over-exert himself on a day-to-day basis.”
Palin insists that Brave Emperor's earnings, which have now exceeded £500,000, pale in comparison to the experience he's providing his loyal band of owners who have enjoyed some exciting foreign trips of their own. It also makes his yearling price tag of £19,000, when bought at Goffs UK by Rodrigo Goncalves and Robson Aguiar, look incredibly reasonable.
“We had 14 people over there in Doha on Saturday and they couldn't have looked after us any better,” he says. “Everybody had a fantastic time, and that's what it's all about, dinners and drinks with not just fellow owners, we've become friends, and all thanks to the wonderful Brave Emperor. That's the great thing about this game, you formulate great friendships. We have a couple of two-year-olds now with Archie and, sure enough, the money Brave Emperor's earned his owners has now paid for their shares in the others. They're rolling the dice again into them.”
Palin adds, “I can't take any credit really for any of the placement, it's all been Archie. He's placed him to a tee, superb. And obviously the team who travels him around – Louis has been great.”
Brave Emperor is a member of the first crop of Sioux Nation, Coolmore's son of Scat Daddy who has perhaps been a little overshadowed when it comes to recognition. He was of course in the same graduating year as Havana Grey (GB) and was behind him in both the first- and second-season sires' championships of the last two years. It's nip and tuck between the pair when it comes to comparing stakes performers, however. In 2023, Havana Grey's offspring were headed by the dual Group 1 winner Vandeek (GB), one of his 16 black-type winners overall, compared to 13 for Sioux Nation. But it is Sioux Nation who is ahead when it comes to Group winners, with nine on the board to Havana Grey's seven.
Thanks to the exploits of Brave Emperor, Sioux Nation currently heads the list of European third-crop sires by worldwide earnings at this early point in the year, and he has Matilda Picotte (Ire) flying the flag for him and Ireland in Saturday's G2 1351 Turf Sprint at the Saudi Cup meeting. She is also a Group 2 winner, in the Challenge S. at Newmarket, where she also won the Listed Bosra Sham S. and was third in the 1,000 Guineas. Her stakes wins are completed by the G3 Sceptre S. at Doncaster.
Last year's G3 Acomb S. winner Indian Run (Ire) is a potential Classic challenger for this season, while in the TDN on Monday Kieran Lalor outlined plans to send Group 3 winner Ocean Jewel (Ire) to race in America for Al Shira'aa Farms.
Of course, Sioux Nation's achievements have not exactly gone under the radar, and his fee in 2024 of €27,500 is more than double his starting point at stud, but it will be interesting to follow his progress, especially if he can come up with horses as tough as Brave Emperor. The sire can't take sole credit for the 10-time winner, however. A first foal, Brave Emperor's 55-rated dam Roman Gal (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) was nothing to write home about as a racehorse but she is a half-sister to the G1 Coronation Cup and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagaradere runner-up Salouen (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), and her granddam Asterita (GB) (Rainbow Quest) won the Lingfield Oaks Trial. Further back again the family includes some prolific black-type earners in champion miler Keltos (Fr) and his half-siblings Krataios (Fr), Loxias (Fr), Iridanos (GB) and Kavafi (Ire). Together the quintet notched 38 wins between them from 97 starts. That hardiness, with more than a dash of talent, is echoing down the line.
“Some people looked at me like I'd lost my marbles,” admits Jamie Osborne. The trainer is back in rainy Lambourn following a couple of glorious days under the Middle Eastern sun. The potential moment of madness to which he refers came last October when he bid 160,000gns for the then-seven-year-old Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal).
The gelding already had 32 runs under his belt and an impressive track record for Kevin Ryan, which included victory in the G2 Gimcrack S., backed up later by his win at five in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup. He had also won the Listed Rous S. a couple of weeks before heading to the Tattersalls Horses-in-Training Sale, so he was clearly still a competitive animal but one would naturally start to wonder, as he embarked on his eight-year-old campaign, about the general wear and tear that might come with being in training all those seasons.
That old fighting spirit was still very much in evidence, however, as Emaraaty Ana held on gamely to win Saturday's Dukhan Sprint on Saturday, a local Group 3 in Qatar worth just shy of £180,000 to the winner. His success was a rather large cherry on top of a fine 24 hours for the Osborne stable which began not that far away in Dubai with the second victory this winter at Meydan for another eight-year-old, Ouzo (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}). Both horses were ridden by the trainer's daughter, Saffie, who notched a notable landmark in becoming the first woman to ride a winner at Meydan.
“We can't quite believe our luck,” says Osborne. “It's nice when plans come off because most of them don't.”
He adds of Emaraaty Ana, “Buying a horse like that, you could potentially make yourself look stupid. I mean, I'm very fortunate that Ian and Claire Barratt have given me a bit of a budget to entertain them with and I felt that, at the money, he made sense as long as we could maintain him. And look, it's easy after the event, but I did say to them that he had the potential to win his purchase price back in Doha in February.”
Job done then, and we could see Emaraaty Ana back at Meydan next month.
“We're hoping he's going to get an invitation for the Al Quoz,” Osborne says. “Obviously he's going to have to up his game to compete in that, I still think there's a chance that he can improve again.
“Barratt Racing have given me the opportunity to actually spend a bit more money than I've had to spend in the past to give them some fun. Now, how do you spend it? What they're about is going to nice places and competing at a decent level. So if you spend your budget on yearlings, the odds are you'll be disappointed. If you are looking for higher-rated younger horses to go and do these nice international races, well sadly our budget didn't stretch that far.
“In doing this, we have to accept that we've been buying horses that clearly other people feel their best days are behind them. And they are probably right, but hopefully we can maintain them for a year or two to give the Barretts the fun that they would like.”
He continues, “I know some people looked at me like I'd lost my marbles by giving 160,000 for a seven-year-old, but if you think about it, there's so many £160,000 yearlings out there and not many of them are going to end up being rated 110. And, yes, you've got a different journey, you've got a huge amount of hope and excitement with those horses that they could have a successful career, but the reality is most of them don't.
“We're abandoning that hope that we're buying a champion and exchanging it really for a bit of reality. We accept that we're not buying a champion, but we're buying good horses. And as long as we can manage them, and keep them sound, and keep them wanting to do it, then there is some instant fun available with them.”
Osborne admits to having found the Horses-in-Training Sale frustrating last year as he regularly played the role of underbidder, and he points to how the expansion of the racing programme in the Gulf has driven prices up.
“If you just value them as a function of how much prize-money they can win around the world, it makes sense when you see what horses are going to race for in Saudi this weekend, and what they've been racing for in Qatar, what they can race for in Dubai. It's not a surprise that they're expensive,” he says.
“All the horses that we've got out there have come from very good trainers who have done very well with them: Kevin Ryan, Solid Stone came from Sir Michael Stoute, Ouzo came from Richard Hannon, we've got a nice horse called Sean out there that runs on Friday in the Singspiel Stakes. He came out of Germany, and he's been very well looked after and very well trained, he's seven.
“We're just probably doing things with them that the previous owners and trainers weren't really wanting to do. We've got the same horse, but if you just campaign them differently, you can find almost a new lease of life for them to compete. These are not English Group 1 races. A British Group race I think is the hardest race to win. So while some of these horses are competing in Middle Eastern Group races, they may well not compete in the British ones, but if we look after them and campaign them very much with a return to the Middle East in mind for next year, there's no reason why we can't go overseas.”
Ouzo is owned by The Other Club, a syndicate which comprises Osborne's wife, the artist Katie O'Sullivan, and a group of her friends.
“He's been a bit of a revelation, really, and I'm still unsure why,” Osborne says. “We failed to win with him for two years and he was running very consistently, getting placed in some very good races, and I was very worried about taking him to Dubai off 98, but he's found another leg since we've been out there this year. Maybe the extra little bit of trip has helped.
“There's one thing for certain, he isn't going to win the Hunt Cup now. He plied his trade around that 95 mark for two years, being slightly a victim of his own consistency, and now he's gone and won off 102, so it's fantastic for his owners who have enjoyed him immensely in spite of not winning for a couple of years, and now he's won three on the trot.”
He adds of the ownership group, “They certainly enjoy themselves wherever they go. I'd said to them before his first start, 'If you're only going to come out [to Dubai] once, come for his second start.” So obviously when he won first time, I thought I'd completely messed it up.”
He adds, “We'll get his little bag packed and bring him back here. He's still in the Lincoln off 98 plus a penalty. I wouldn't completely rule that out, but we'll just see how he comes back.”
Osborne's biggest win in Dubai came a decade ago when Toast Of New York won the G2 UAE Derby. He ended that same season by being beating just a nose in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Now 13, the son of Thewayyouare has an active life as a riding horse with the family ofOsborne's right-hand man and fellow former jump jockey Jimmy McCarthy, who is overseeing the trainer's horses in Dubai.
Despite enjoying multiple top-level successes in his own career over jumps, Osborne admits to being a bit of a fair-weather racing man, making the Middle East at this time of the year an appealing prospect beyond just the prize-money on offer.
He says, “One of the downsides of being a jump jockey was that it happened in the winter. I suppose, to a degree, I've driven this concept motivated by my hatred for the British winter, but thankfully I've got owners that enjoy it too.”
Saffie Osborne is doubtless enjoying it too, especially as she had to curtail her season last November when seeking treatment for torn ligaments in her knee. It was still her best year to date, with 70 winners on the board and a first Group success in the Valiant S. aboard Random Harvest (Ire) (War Front). And before you start thinking she's a nepo baby, it's worth reading what her father has to say about her.
“She's been a liability most of her life but it finally looks like she's turning into an asset,” he says, though even down the phone it's easy to detect the smile on his face.
“She's had a tough few months. I'm not totally certain that if we hadn't had the nice horses in the Middle East that she would be back yet. But she worked very hard to get back and did what she had to do with her knee, and hopefully it'll keep improving as the year goes on, but she does have damage in there.
“Obviously, for Katie and me, doing what we're doing with her on board just makes it extra special.”
He continues, “There was a time when she was riding, she rode Alignak at Meydan for us a couple of years ago, and I was happy with her riding the horse, but she was just proficient. Now, I would say, without being biased, which is a difficult thing not to be, I think I would rather have her on the horses than anyone else now, from a professional point of view, and regardless of the pleasure that I get from seeing her riding for us. She's got the hang of it now.
“She's not afraid to get beat on a horse, which sounds stupid, but I think that's a very important thing that a jockey must have. The route she took on Ouzo, that could have ended up as a real hard-luck story, but if she'd come around them, she wasn't going to win. So you've got to be prepared to take that chance and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, but she has the confidence to take that calculated risk. And maybe it stems from the fact that as her mother owns it and her father trains it, she knows she's not going to get jocked off.
“But on the other hand, I'm trying to regrow this business at the moment, I don't have enough horses. I would like to grow both sides of the business, both here and a travelling team for the Middle East for next winter, and if I thought her involvement was in any way going to be detrimental to the growth of this business, well I'm afraid nepotism would go out the window. I'm not going to employ her at the expense of the business.
He adds, “She's extremely driven and I think there's a chance that Saffie can really make it and she's almost certainly going to grow out of me, I hope. In which case, I'll just have to stand in line with everyone else.”
The next big test for Saffie Osborne comes on Friday in Riyadh, where she is one of 14 jockeys to have been called up for the Saudi Cup International Jockeys' Challenge. Ryan Moore is also in the line-up, as is Australia's Damien Oliver, who is making a brief comeback from his recent official retirement.
With a line that only a father could get away with, Osborne says of his daughter's participation, “That's a big step for a little girl.
“I think if she'd been involved in that competition last year, you'd be living in fear that she's going to be outwitted or out-jockeyed by that class of a rider that she's going to be competing against, but now I don't think that's a concern. I think that rule number one if you're going to be a good jockey is you've got to know how fast you're going and it seems that she's innately got that now. I'll be in Dubai watching with interest.”
Godolphin's globetrotting Rebel's Romance (Ire) (g, 6, Dubawi {Ire}–Minidress {GB}, by Street Cry {Ire}) entered Saturday's $2.5-million G3 H.H. The Amir Trophy as one of three Group 1 winners in the field of 11, yet still had something to prove.
Winless since causing a mild surprise in the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, the homebred failed–for a variety of reasons–in two tries in America last summer, but hinted at a return to his best with an eye-catching victory at Kempton in December. He was a somewhat unexpected entry for this newly upgraded race, but his class was on full display as he dispatched of the best field ever assembled in Qatar with complete authority.
Drawn gate 10, Rebel's Romance was ridden positively by William Buick and sat three deep outside Japan's North Bridge (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) and Satono Glanz (Jpn) (Satono Diamond {Jpn}) passing the stands for the first time and was allowed to edge in front with a circuit to travel. Bowling along, ears straight-forward, turning down the back of the track at Al Rayyan, Rebel's Romance dropped anchor, and things got a bit messy behind him as a result, with North Bridge hard on the bridle for Yasunari Iwata, and Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) also firing up from midfield.
Rebel's Romance was holding firm on the run around the second bend, but Joao Moreira began to feel for Zeffiro (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) 600 metres out and he looped the field, appearing a real threat. The G1 Hong Kong Vase runner-up had dead aim on the front-runner a furlong and a half from home, but drifted badly towards the stands, and Rebel's Romance ran out a comfortable winner. Satono Glanz outfinished North Bridge for third, while defending champion Russian Emperor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) finished off his race soundly to be fifth.
“He really enjoyed it,” Buick said. “It wasn't plan A, but Charlie was keen to go forward from stall 10. He relaxed lovely in front. It wasn't so long ago he won a Breeders' Cup Turf, so he seems to be back to his best and it's great to come to Qatar and ride a winner. It's a big festival and I'm absolutely delighted. That was a good race, with Japanese horses, Irish and English. He had to be somewhere near his best and I'm pretty sure he was.”
Added Appleby: “We were delighted with Rebel's Romance. It was a great ride by William, and we felt the horse was back to his best heading here following a confidence-boosting win at Kempton Park.
“This is an event that is growing with importance every year and the strength of today's field showed how its status is increasing on the international stage. We are very proud to be able to support these big races on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and team Godolphin.
“I would imagine that we will look towards the Dubai Sheema Classic for Rebel's Romance, and then possibly head back out to America for the summer.”
The only treble Group 1 winner in the field, Rebel's Romance had gone winless since the Breeders' Cup. A minor issue dictated that he raced in last year's G1 Dubai Sheema Classic without a prep and he was duly beaten into a distant seventh by world champion Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) at Meydan last March. Sent to America over the summer, he clipped heels in the GII Bowling Green S. at Saratoga in July, throwing Richard Mullen heavily to the turf, and caught unsuitably easy ground during an abnormally wet period in New York when fourth at odds-on in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in October. Forced to regroup with a Breeders' Cup bid now out of play, he returned to action with a visually impressive victory in the Listed Wild Flower S. over the Kempton all-weather in December. From here, all roads lead back to Meydan in six weeks' time where the competition could include Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Japanese Triple Tiara heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), among others.
Pedigree Notes:
Rebel's Romance is one of two potential starters on World Cup night for his stakes-placed dam, whose exciting son Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}) took out this year's G1 Jebel Hatta, customarily a pointer to the G1 Dubai Turf.
Second dam Short Skirt was a leading member of her generation in 2006, defeating hot favourite Alexandrova (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) in the the G3 Musidora S. at York for Sir Michael Stoute before finishing third to that foe in the G1 Epsom Oaks. Short Skirt was subsequently second to Alexandrova in that year's G1 Yorkshire Oaks and was purchased by John Ferguson for 1.4 million guineas at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale a few months later. Short Skirt produced five winners from eight to race, including G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy hero Volcanic Sky (GB) (Street Cry {Ire}) and the dam of Japanese listed winner and Group 3-placed Due Process (GB) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}).
There is a further connection to Japan under the third dam, as Much Too Risky's champion daughter and G1 St Leger third Whitewater Affair (GB) (Machiavellian) produced Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}), a two-time champion who famously won the G1 Dubai World Cup only weeks after the devastating Japanese earthquake of 2011. Victoire Pisa's half-brother Asakusa Den'en (Jpn) (Singspiel {Ire}) won the G1 Yasuda Kinen in 2005.
Minidress is represented by a yearling full-brother to Rebel's Romance.
Saturday, Al Rayyan (Doha), Qatar H.H. THE AMIR TROPHY (Sponsored by Longines)-G3, $2,500,000, Al Rayyan, 2-17, 4yo/up, 2400mT, 2:28.84, gd.
1–REBEL'S ROMANCE (IRE), 128, g, 6, by Dubawi (Ire) 1st Dam: Minidress (GB) (SP-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire) 2nd Dam: Short Skirt (GB), by Diktat (GB) 3rd Dam: Much Too Risky (GB), by Bustino (GB)
O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick; $1,425,000. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 3yo-UAE at 9.5-11f, MG1SW-Ger, GISW-US, GSW-UAE & Eng, 17-11-0-0, $4,485,232. *1/2 to Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}), G1SW-UAE, SP-Eng, $479,650. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Zeffiro (Jpn), 128, h, 5, Deep Impact (Jpn)–Wild Wind (Ger), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). O-Shadai Race Horse Co Ltd; B-Shadai Farm; T-Yasutoshi Ikee; J-Joao Moreira; $550,000.
3–Satono Glanz (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Satono Diamond (Jpn)–Cherry Collect (Ire), by Oratorio (Ire). (¥105,000,000 Ylg '21 JHRAJUL). O-Hajime Satomi; B-Northern Racing; T-Yasuo Tomomichi; J-Yuga Kawada; $275,000.
Margins: 3, 1 3/4, HF.
Also Ran: North Bridge (Jpn), Russian Emperor (Ire), Simca Mille (Ire), Haunted Dream (Ire), Jeff Koons (Ire), Israr (GB), Passion And Glory (Ire), Point Lonsdale (Ire).
Brave Emperor Hong Kong Bound Following ITM Cup
Overseas runners captured two of the three supporting features held Saturday in Doha.
In the opening event of the program, Middleham Park Racing's Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) raced prominently throughout and managed to stave off a stinging late rally down the centre of the course from Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road) to take the $500,000 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cup for Archie Watson and Luke Morris. According to a report from the South China Morning Post, the 4-year-old is set to take on Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) in the G1 FWD Champions Mile in late April.
IRISH THOROUGHBRED MARKETING CUP (Qat-G2, NBT), $500,000, Al Rayyan, 2-17, 4yo/up, 1600mT, 1:35.10, gd.
1–BRAVE EMPEROR (IRE), 128, g, 4, Sioux Nation–Roman Gal (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). (£19,000 Ylg '21 GOFAUG). O-Middleham Park Racing; B-Caroline Hanly & Sean Ronan; T-Archie Watson; J-Luke Morris; $285,000. Lifetime Record: Hwt. 3yo-Ity & Ger at 7-9.5f, MGSW-Ger, GSW-Fr & Ity, GSP-Swe, 16-10-3-1, $676,757.
2–Cairo (Ire), 128, c, 4, Quality Road–Cuff (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Westerberg; B-Coolmore; T-Ryan Moore; J-Aidan O'Brien; $110,000.
3–Real World (Ire), 128, g, 7, Dark Angel (Ire)–Nafura (GB), by Dubawi (Ire). O/B-Godolphin; T-Saeed Bin Suroor; J-Oisin Murphy; $55,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, NK.
Oddyssey Causes Minor Upset In Al Rayyan Mile
Al Shaqab Racing's G3 Horris Hill S. winner Orne (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) was expected to be a tough nut to crack in the $400,000 Al Rayyan Mile for John and Thady Gosden, but the Gassim Ghazali-conditioned Oddyssey (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) more than covered his 80,000gns pricetag from last fall's Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale when driving home by two lengths in a time quicker than the older horses posted in the ITM Cup.
AL RAYYAN MILE (Qat-G2, NBT), $400,000, Al Rayyan, 2-17, 3yo, 1600mT, 1:34.84, gd.
1–ODDYSSEY (GB), 128, c, 3, Ulysses (Ire)–Last Echo (Ire), by Whipper. (10,500gns Wlg '22 TATDEF; 80,000gns HRA '23 TATAUT). O-Sheikh Mohammed Salman M Al-Thani; B-Culworth Grounds Farm; T-Gassim Ghazali; J-Maxime Guyon; $228,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Eng, 8-3-0-3, $279,073.
2–Orne (Ire), 128, c, 3, Acclamation (GB)–Pellucid (GB), by Excelebration (Ire). (120,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Al Shaqab Racing; B-Rahtbarry Stud; T-John & Thady Gosden; J-Robert Havlin; $88,000.
3–Soldier's Gold (Ire), 128, c, 3, Soldier's Call (GB)–Copperbeech (Ire), by Red Ransom. O-Wathnan Racing; B-Bernard & Eugene Heary; T-Alban de Mieulle; J-Mickael Barzalona; $44,000.
Margins: 2, HF, NK.
Team Osborne Back At It In Qatar
Less than 24 hours after making history as the first female rider to win a race at Meydan, Saffie Osborne repeated the dose–again for her father Jamie–in Saturday's $400,000 Dukhan Sprint, Sponsored By Breeders' Cup, getting home aboard Group 1 winner Emaraaty Ana (GB) just ahead of the locally based Monsieur Noir (Ire). Remarkably, each of the top two finishers is an 8-year-old gelding by Shamardal. Godolphin's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) was a good third and could accompany his stablemate back to the States later in the year.
“We will probably travel out to America for the summer as we know he likes the tracks and style of racing out there,” Appleby said.
DUKHAN SPRINT (Sponsored by Breeders' Cup) (Qat-G3, NBT), $400,000, Al Rayyan, 2-17, 3yo/up, 1200mT, 1:09.19, gd.
1–EMARAATY ANA (GB), 128, g, 8, Shamardal–Spirit of Dubai (Ire) (SW-Eng), by Cape Cross (Ire). (160,000gns HRA '23 TATAUT). O-Barratt Racing; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited; T-Jamie Osborne; J-Saffie Osborne; $228,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, GISP-US, 34-7-5-7, $1,265,929.
2–Monsieur Noir (Ire), 128, g, 8, Shamardal–Night Frolic (GB), by Night Shift. (500,000gns Ylg '17 TATOCT; 75,000gns HRA '19 TATAUT). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Highclere Stud & Floors Farming; T-Alban de Mieulle; J-Oisin Murphy; $88,000.
3–Mischief Magic (Ire), 128, c, 4, Exceed and Excel (Aus)–Veil of Silence (Ire), by Elusive Quality. O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick; $44,000.
Margins: HD, HF, NK.
